


Tagliatelle, You're It.

by QuintessenceA



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Almost all hurt, Alphyne if you squint, Alphys to the Rescue, Dark, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Eventual Nice Cream, Full arc already written, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Injury Recovery, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Medical Procedures, No Salphys, Noncon Fontcest, Permanent Injury, Rescue, Self-Harm, Skeleton Pregnancy (Undertale), Triggers, Yandere Papyrus (Undertale), post partum depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessenceA/pseuds/QuintessenceA
Summary: Regretti. Caveatelli. Spiralini(ng out of control). These stories led to a Sans that escaped to the Omega Timeline after a terrible series of events. I wanted to know, what else could have happened? What if he hadn't opened the door? Would it get worse?As it turned out, things could always get worse."Are you glad I did this?"~~~As a fan of what I call the Pasta Pain series, I just wanted to write in a timeline of it, and this whole thing just kinda… happened. My muse has been unhelpful on my other stories, instead filling my head with this one. So, since I wrote it, why not chuck it on Ao3? Maybe someone else wants to see Sans break.(All the dark warnings for chapter 2. Nothing else gets as bad, but I've attempted to pack all the painful things I can into this fic.)Remember the Sans that escaped to the Omega Timeline? This isn't him. This Sans didn't get to leave The Room, he's stuck with Papyrus. But who knows, maybe someday he'll get there too.
Comments: 41
Kudos: 63





	1. Anyone Can Be A Good Perciatelli, If They Just Try

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Spiralini(ng out of control)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999079) by [Lovova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovova/pseuds/Lovova). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys realizes that Sans is missing. But... what could she possibly do about it?
> 
> Chapter One follows (and then diverts from) Lovova's Spiralining out of control from Alphys pov. This is not a Salphys fic, sorry shippers.
> 
> Required reading for story context:
> 
> Regretti by skeletonfricker  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/5581030
> 
> Caveatelli by Sora_Tayuya  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/6828547
> 
> Spiralini(ng out of control) by Lovova  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999079
> 
> Optional Content that added inspiration:
> 
> Pennence by orphan_account  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/7721839
> 
> ONISM by Lovova  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15758133

It had taken Alphys longer than she thinks it should have to realize Sans was missing. She knew she was a terrible friend, prone to ghosting and straight up vanishing from social media when anxiety strikes, only to return a month later to pretend like nothing happened. So when her Undernet feed became suddenly empty of hilarious puns and light hearted trolling, she simply chalked it up to the same.

When a week went by, she messaged him. There was no response. She didn't take it personally, she understood, and every couple of days would send a random message with a picture or meme that made her think of him. This became the routine, and Alphys kept her claws crossed that he was ok, and would get back to her when he felt like it.

After two months, she began to actually worry. Logging into Undernet she checked his profile page directly, and what she saw made her worry shift into real alarm.

Last active two months ago. 

The thing was, even if Sans didn't reply, he was online regularly. Constantly, even. The fact that he hadn't so much as logged on in two months was beyond concerning, it was unheard of.

But what could she do? She was in Hotlands, and he was all the way in Snowdin. She wasn't even sure where exactly he lived in the town anyway, and it wasn't like she was going to go bother random strangers to help her find someone who probably was just taking a break from the Undernet.

The concern gnawed at her until she finally remembered about his brother. Papyrus wasn't a monster that she knew very well, but Sans adored him without compare and talked about him constantly. Alphys knew through Sans that Papyrus had been trying to get into the Royal Guard, so surely Undyne could give her a hand, or at least let her know that there was nothing to worry about!

It took another day for her to actually draft a message to Undyne. Two hours alone had gone into trying to decide how to address her. Captain sounded too formal, but Undyne was too informal. In the end she kept a title off altogether.

"Hello  
I'm a little worried about a friend, and was hoping you could help me get in touch with him. His name is Sans, and I know you're training his brother, Papyrus, and I just wanted to make sure he's ok since I haven't heard from him in a while. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.  
Alphys"

It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. And at this point she was too worried to over think it any further than she already had. Covering her eyes with a hand she clicked 'Send', and the message was out. Immediately she regretted it. It was too stuffy, too repetitive of things Undyne probably already knew. Plus, hadn't she just told herself she wasn't going to involve others in something that, more than likely, was absolutely nothing?

Taking a calming breath, she exhaled through her nose. Undyne was a good monster, she'd want to help even if there wasn't anything wrong. Undyne will check out the situation, and in a day, tops, she'll have a message that, of course, everything was fine and she was just working herself into a panic over nothing. Again. It would be fine.

She set it up so that the response, when it arrived, would come right to her smartwatch. She did NOT want to miss this, whether or not she had her phone. She had only just finished, reopening her other work from before, when the new message alert dinged.

Alphys stared at the icon. That was way too fast. The only way Undyne would response so quickly was if she already knew. The only reason she'd know was if she asked Papyrus. The only reason she'd ask Papyrus was if something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Sans isn't doing great right now."

Oh, oh god. She read on, her eyes wide.

"About two months ago he got sick, and locked himself in his room. His brother has been taking care of him, but Sans won't leave his room and won't allow anyone to see him either. I'm keeping my hopes up that he'll be okay, and I'll let you know if I learn anything more.  
Undyne"

That was it, then. Poor Sans. How hadn't she noticed that things were getting so bad? If things were as bad as Undyne made it seem, Sans was in real trouble. He needed help. Somehow, she needed to get a hold of Papyrus and find out just how far gone Sans was.

It turned out that she didn't need to find Papyrus to learn more. The next day, he found her.

The visit confirmed her worst fears. Sans was deeply, deeply depressed and on the verge of falling down. Unsure of what else to do, Alphys had given Papyrus a vial of Determination. She hadn't told him what it was, but let him know that it might save Sans if he started to Fall Down. Like jumpstarting a car, she told him.

Stars, she hoped she was doing the right thing. Sans already had so much Determination it was a wonder he was still solid. Then again, Sans was so different than other monsters, it couldn't possibly affect him like the others. If things got bad enough that he'd need it… It would definitely be better than nothing. 

Papyrus said Sans refused guests and wouldn't leave his room, and Alphys had all but begged him to bring Sans in. At least in the Lab she could monitor him, could find him help. Not agreeing to anything, Papyrus had taken the syringe and left. 

Two weeks later and there hadn't been so much as a word from either of them.

Alphys worried. 

She felt like she needed to do something. To visit him, to talk to him. To just let him know that she was there for him, and would be there for him whenever he wanted to talk. Since he wasn't logging onto social media, that meant she'd need to go to him.

She didn't want to go to Snowdin. The families of some of the Amalgamates lived there, and what could she possibly say if they asked after them?

It took another week, but she finally hated herself enough to talk herself into going out. Sure, she was garbage 98% of the time, but dammit, Sans deserved the good 2%! If there was one god damned thing she could relate to it was mental illness! She had to tell him he wasn't alone.

So, wrapped up in a heavy jacket, doused in perfume to mask her scent, and disguised with a head scarf and over large sunglasses she gathered every drop of courage she had and boarded the ferry to Snowdin.

While they travel down the river, she pulled out her phone, getting ready to copy down whatever the ferry person had to say today into her word document about them. Sometimes the things they said were complete nonsense, but other times they made observations that could only be understood in hindsight. 

They didn't disappoint, and she perked up as she heard them speak. 

"Tralala," they sang, their strange melodic voice echoing off the cavern walls. "Do you believe that even the worst person can change? That anyone can be a good person, if they just try?"

Wincing, she quickly typed the phrase down, adding it underneath the entry about multiple pairs of pants. Was he talking about her? She WAS trying though, coming out here, making the effort. It just reenforced in her that she needed to help, and this time she wouldn't give up, not until she found her friend.

Reaching the dock, Alphys tried to decide which way to go. A chill wind blew, pushing her towards Waterfall. Wrapping her coat more tightly around herself, she began to walk that way. It was as good of a choice as the other direction. With any luck, she'd come across someone and be able to ask.

There was no one, and the wind continued to pick up until she was miserably cold and heading out of town. Drat. Trying not to feel too discouraged, she turned back to the town, just in time to see Papyrus exit from one of the larger houses and head into town away from her. With a surge of renewed confidence, she began to run towards him.

"H-hey! P-Papyrus!" She called, catching up to him not too far past his house, and he turned around at the sound of his name.

"Yes? Who- oh, it's you! Hello, Doctor Alphys," he said, looking her up and down. "You look very… incognito today. How can I help you?"

"I-I'm looking for Sans," she said, gesturing towards the house. "I just, I want to make sure he's okay."

That was a stupid thing to say, and before he could point out that exact thing she hurried to fix her mistake. 

"W-wait, that's not right," she said, stumbling over her words. "I mean, I know he's not really okay, not exactly, b-but you know, I just want to let him know that it's okay to not be okay. B-because I know what it's like to be okay, but not be okay. I-is that okay?"

He waited patiently until she was done babbling before giving her a big smile. 

"Thank you for your concern, but Sans still isn't taking visitors right now. No need to worry yourself, I'm taking excellent care of him."

It was a relief to simply know that he wasn't dead. Until this moment, she hadn't realized how afraid she had been, worried that she might be too late. "That's g-good," she said, giving him a much weaker smile in return. "You didn't, uh, need to use the D-De- the syringe, then?"

His smile faded a few degrees, and her heart went out to him as he said, "We had… an incident and I had to use the red stuff. But!" He exclaimed, brightening back to his prior enthusiasm. "It helped! In fact, he's doing much better these days."

Between the smile and the confident tone of his voice Papyrus was all warmth and empathy, and it did wonders to soothe her worry. Still, she'd come all this way to see Sans herself. She needed to let Sans KNOW that she was here for him.

"I'm glad to hear that. C-could I go inside real quick, just to let him know I'm here for him? A quick in-and-out, 2 seconds, I promise."

"As I said," Papyrus said slowly, like she'd missed it the first time. He took a step, moving between her and the house. "He's still too sick to be taking any visitors. I will pass along your message."

"O-oh, I'm sure you would," she said, nodding agreeably even as she tried to gently push the issue, "but it's d-different coming from family, you see? I'm his friend and I c-care about him-"

"No." He cut her off like shutting a door in her face, and the finality with which he said it made a chill run down her spine.

She blinked for a moment, thrown off by a sudden sense of danger. There was nothing in his smile or body language that she could say was different, but something had definitely changed. The warmth of his smile was completely gone, replaced with the cold, ricktus grin of a mannequin. 

"You're not his friend," Papyrus said, his voice as cheery as before, but the words cut. Deeply. "I know all of Sans's friends, and I don't think you count. If you were, you would have come sooner." 

Alphys wilted, shrinking into herself. He was right, but, but… "B-but, what about S-Sans-?"

"You should leave, and I think it would be best for everyone's health if you didn't come back again."

There was no reason for it, but with a jolt, Alphys realized that no one knew she was here. If anything happened to her, no one would know where to look, if anyone realized she'd disappeared to begin with. Without thinking she started to step back, retreating from him.

"I am taking excellent care of my brother," Papyrus repeated. "He's going to be just fine, and if I need your help I will ask for it. Goodbye, Doctor Alphys."

It didn't sound so much like a farewell as it did a warning, as he stared down at her with that big, empty smile. He raised a gloved hand and flicked his wrist, shooing her away.

Alphys fled.

She ran on pure instinct, overrun by the feeling of being a small, helpless creature under the attention of something deadly. Ahead, Grillby's restaurant stood out like a safe harbor in a storm. She ran to it. There was no way to know if Papyrus was coming after her or not, but she had to let someone know she was in town. People, she needed people!

Throwing the door open, she practically dove inside, into the warmth and drone of casual conversation. The conversation stopped as she slammed the door shut, her heart pounding in her throat. 

"You alright, honey?" A rabbit called from the booth near her. "Something gotcha spooked?"

"P-Papyrus," she gasped, fighting to get her breathing under control. "He- he had…" She began, and stopped.

What had he done, really? Try to assure her that Sans was fine? Tell her not to bother his sick brother? Tell her goodbye?

As a dozen pairs of calm, quiet eyes, from a calm, quiet town, stared at her, she suddenly felt that maybe, just maybe, she had overreacted.

Nervously she resettled the scarf on her head. "S-sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay, why doncha come and have a sit," the rabbit said, patting the seat beside her. "That Papyrus can give folks a right fright the first time they meet but that big lug's not nothing to worry about."

"Th-thanks," she said, giving the kind woman a gracious smile. As she took the offered seat the regular sounds of restaurant conversation resumed. It didn't seem like anyone recognized her, and she felt both guilty and relieved about it. She took a moment to pull up the pulse monitor on her smartwatch, quickly adding a log for the high reading. The routine of it steadied her, and she watched the number drop down to normal with a relieved exhale.

"So," said the rabbit after a minute of watching Alphys quietly tap her claws on her wrist. "What brings you to our chilly little neck of the woods? You some kinda celebrity in hiding?"

"Wh-what?!" Alphys exclaimed, and ducked her head as she felt the eyes of other customers turning to her again. A little quieter she added, "N-no, why would you th-think that?"

"On account of the way your dressed, like one'a those celebrity ladies from the magazines. Plus, most us normal folks don't have a fancy wristy-"

She cut herself off as Grillby approached the table, light steam rising from a short, wide cup in his hands.

"…miso," he said softly, setting it down in front of her. "…no charge."

So much for not being recognized. "Th-thanks," she said, honestly impressed with his memory. And that he had it in stock.

The rabbit gave a triumphant smile as Grillby returned to the bar. "And because of that," she said smugly.

"O-ok, s-so I may be hiding my identity," Alphys admitted, "but only because I don't want t-to make a scene. I'm just trying to find my friend, Sans."

When the rabbit's ears dropped, Alphys quickly focused on her cup, sipping at the warm soup to avoid looking at the woman's sad expression.

"Hun," she said, her voice soft and kind, "I don't quite know how to tell you this, but dear ol' Sansy ain't exactly been too well off these days."

"I-I know," Alphys said, staring into the cup like it might hold the answers to the universe if only she could look deep enough. "But I haven't seen him i-in so long, a-and…"

"I get it," the woman sighed. "None of us here has even seen Sans in months."

"Wait, what?" Alphys asked, startled enough to look the woman in the eyes. "No one at all?"

"She's right," said another monster, who must have been eavesdropping from the next booth over. "Ever since he holed up in his room only Papyrus has ever been able to even talk to him." The monster gave a sigh of their own. "He used to come in every day. I miss him and his jokes."

The rabbit woman nodded her agreement.

"Th-that can't be right," Alphys pressed. "Hasn't anyone, I don't know, even called him? Texted? Seen him through a window?" And each question she only got a chorus of negatives and shaking heads.

What had happened to Sans? People don't just drop off the face of the Underground like that, not without warnings. Even when monsters Fall others at least see them. Anything could have happened, and no one knew anything, only Papyrus.

She thought of the Determination sample she'd given Papyrus, and a terrible string of what-ifs struck her like hailstones.

What if the Determination had already affected him? 

Oh, god, what if it had been too much and he'd melted like the others?

What if that was why Papyrus didn't let anyone see him? Why he got so not-quite-hostile when she pushed?

What if that was why Papyrus was so earnest he'd get better, even after so long? Because Sans was still alive...ish?

"You don't look so good, are you okay hun?" The rabbit asked, leaning close to look at her face.

"I-I have to g-go!" Alphys said, a bit too loudly for the tiny building. 

Soup half finished, she jumped up and ran from the restaurant.

Oh god, oh god, oh god. The Determination she'd given him had been the last straw, hadn't it? 

Now she REALLY had to find Sans. She had to know.

Frantic, she ran to the house, trying to keep an eye out for Papyrus. If Sans had really become an amalgamate, Papyrus would never let her see him. The door, predictably, was locked. She ran around the house, looking at the windows, trying to decide which room Sans's might be. There was a ladder next to the shed, but it was useless if she didn't know where he was. On a guess, she picked the one on the second story with the dingiest curtains.

She resisted the urge to call out his name. Not only would that definitely attract Papyrus, but amalgamates weren't well known for their ability for speech. She had to think something simpler, something he'd be able to remember, something ingrained into his memory that he could recognize and respond to in a way she could easily hear.

Reaching as high as she could, Alphys tapped out "Shave-and-a-haircut" against the side of the house, and listened. 

There was nothing, but her heart was beating so fast in her ears she was worried she wouldn't hear a response. Oh, god, please let that be the only reason she didn't hear a response. Once more, she reached up and rapped her claws on the siding.

Tap, ta-ta, tap, tap.

Nothing. Nothing! God, he was too far gone, wasn't he? Her eyes full of tears, she tried one last time, louder.

Tap, ta-ta, tap, tap!

Please! Please answer! Please be sane enough to answer back!

Nothing! Nothing! Oh, stars…!

Then from above.

Tap-tap.


	2. Torturellini

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Tour Guide Voice* "And on your left, we have Sans, still in The Room."
> 
> You know how they say things get worse before they get better? Well, I had to make things worse. I made Sans complicit. It's not enough for Papyrus. 
> 
> If you want to avoid the worst in this chapter, I recommend you stop at, "Do not disappoint me, brother." 
> 
> If you're like me, I hope I've managed to make something that hurts ^_^

Tap, ta-ta, tap, tap.

The sound invaded his quiet world. Sans didn't dream anymore, it was too hard. There was nothing in his mind. He was nothing. 

But the sound, it wasn't part of the nothing. It was a something. It drug him out of the nothing, forcing him to be something with it. He hated it.

He was in the room again. His leg began to throb dully, and he knew it wouldn't be long before it spiked to real pain. Frustrated tears prickled in his sockets. He was trying so DAMN hard to be nothing. 

Tap, ta-ta, tap, tap. 

It came again, and with it another layer of reality. The chain was heavy, suddenly very present around his neck. 

Shave and a haircut.

Sans knew the sound, an old call and response song. It demanded he answer. He refused. Didn't the world know how HARD it was to be nothing?!

It had to stop!

Tap, ta-ta, tap, tap! Shave-and-a-haircut!

Again! It came again! Even louder this time! What was so important that it had to interfere with the almost peace Sans had been so close to finding?! 

Had the world finally grown tired of his silence, forgetting that Sans was a broken toy without a voicebox? 

The world wanted noise, did it? Fine. Fine! He would give it noise! Maybe if he gave it what it wanted, it would leave. Him. Alone!

Reaching out, he brought his fist up to knock against the wall.

Tap-tap!

Two bits! He silently screamed at the wall. Two bits! There! Are you happy now?!

For a second, it was quiet again, and Sans breathed a sigh of relief. 

Quie-

BANG! There was the sound of something hitting the side of the house, and he turned to look at his window, the glass well out of his reach. It was old, thick and hadn't opened in years. Back when he used to throw things, he'd tried to break it. Once. It had been as spectacular of a failure as everything else he tried. Worse, even, as Papyrus immediately threatened to remove his hands. Since then, he tried to pretend the window didn't exist.

A blurry yellow face with giant sunglasses appeared in the glass.

Heh. The sun had come to visit. That was nice of them, but it was going to be tough going back to being nothing with them around. 

Then, the sun tried to open the window. Alarm shot through Sans. Papyrus had never specifically forbidden the window from being opened, it wasn't something he could do on his own anyway, but he seriously doubted his brother would accept that loophole as an excuse.

He moved closer, slowly enough that his ankle was merely agony instead of blinding pain. It was no use. The chain, as he well knew, couldn't reach the window.

With frightened eyes he watched the window pane rise, ever so slightly until it was opened a mere inch. Fresh air slipped through into the room, cold and crisp.

The sun took off their glasses to peek through the crack… and became Alphys. 

"Sans!" She called out in a hushed whisper. "I'm so sorry to bother you, but I-I thought you might have… b-become… Oh, god…" She trailed off, and began to work at the window harder.

Funny, in none of his daydreams before had Alphys been the one to personally rescue him. Sure, in plenty of them she had noticed his absence on the cameras, but they always ended with her sending Mettaton or Undyne for him instead.

Sans relaxed, relieved that this was just a hallucination and he didn't have to worry about the window actually being open. It was kind of impressive, in a rather frightening sort of way, how real these hallucinations were becoming, between this one and the one he'd experienced the other day. Last week maybe? He wasn't sure, but it had been nice. Like someone was actually with him, actually cared. Part of himself was annoyed with indulging in this fantasy, but another part larger part enjoyed the imagined smell from the open window, of fresh Snowdin air mingled with something strongly floral. 

With a surprising show of strength, she managed to get the window open enough to crawl inside. She stood up, and her face was a mask of sickened horror as she looked around his room. As she looked at him. 

"You have a suppressor cuff," she said, her voice quiet, but much too loud at the same time, "around your neck."

He nodded. 

"You, you're chained to the wall."

He nodded again.

"We have to get you out of here."

Smiling, he dropped his head. This is where the fantasies ended. Actually imagining escaping was just too much anymore. Freedom had become just too big of an idea. It was never going to happen. Soon, he suspected, imagining even this far will become impossible. 

Then he felt her hand on his shoulder, and realized he'd made a terrible mistake.

No, no, nonononono! Alphys couldn't be here! Not Real Alphys! 

As he watched frozen in shock, she picked up his chain and began to pull it, testing its connection to the wall. Desperately he reached for her, pulling on her sleeve.

She had to stop, she had to get out of here! 

When pulling didn't work, he switched to pushing, trying to force her back towards the window. She let go of the chain to look at him with a pained expression, but he couldn't move her.

"Please, I'm trying to help you!"

Abandoning that plan as well he grabbed his pencil and a blank piece of paper, sacrificing the precious sheet to write one, single word. 

[RUN]

He shoved it in her face. She stared at it incomprehendingly, and he wondered if he had gone so crazy that he couldn't even write down a single word correctly. He had to make her understand. She had to leave, now! She couldn't be here when-

The door to the bedroom opened.

"Oh Sans," Papyrus called. "What a mess this is."

Sans spun, his Soul hammering in his chest. He was too late, Alphys was still here. 

"Papyrus, what have you done?" Alphys asked as Papyrus strolled into the room.

"I've kept my brother safe," he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a good thing I came back. Who knows what you would have done if I hadn't."

"M-me?!" she squeaked.

"Yes, you. And now you've ruined our evening. You see, I had a nice dinner planned and then we were going to take a pleasant bath."

Bath?

Sans couldn't stop his sudden trembling, and Alphys put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Then she was blue, Papyrus's magic engulfing her Soul. She was yanked away, slamming into the wall with a cry.

"Don't touch him!" Papyrus yelled. 

Sans tried to move towards her, but stumbled, falling hard to the ground as his ankle sent wave after wave of distress signals through his weakened body. His brother's eyes shifted to him directly and softened almost imperceptibly as Sans looked up. Putting his hands out in front of him, Sans tried to plead with his brother, to beg him to leave her alone.

"I can't let her live, Sans," Papyrus said, and Sans saw her stiffen, trying to fight the blue. It was no use, Sans knew. Papyrus had always been good with his magic.

There had to be something he could do, if he just had the time to think! An idea came to him, nothing more than a stopgap until he could come up with something better. Papyrus had been making a new dish. Dinner, that was something Sans could use, if only he could communicate!

He needed words, to talk to Papyrus. There had to be something he could say, but this stupid collar…!

He stopped, freezing in place as a horrible, terrible idea reared its ugly head. He had a way to speak to Papyrus, didn't he?

It would be awful.

It wouldn't be enough

He would do it anyway.

All eyes in the room snapped to the little construct as Sans pulled his Soul from his chest. Dim and fluttering like a pinned butterfly, he offered it up to Papyrus in one hand, pushing himself up off the floor with the other. 

"Wh-what," Alphys wimpered. "What are you doing?"

He wished she'd just shut up. This was hard enough. On top of that, he was doing it for her. The least she could do is be quiet about it. 

Stars, he was so scared. He was shaking, and didn't try to stop it. He knew Papyrus enjoyed it. 

There was a flash in his brother's eyes, like a dog that had just scented prey. Continuing to hold Alphys against the wall, Papyrus removed his glove and reached out. Fighting every instinct he had, Sans didn't pull back.

Papyrus's long, bony fingers closed around his Soul, and Sans was engulfed in his brother. Everything was overpowered, he was too small, too weak, while Papyrus was strong, too strong to fight but he wasn't fighting he just wanted a-

compromise! Sans thought, pushing the word as hard as he could. give and take! please, i'll do anything you want!

I KNOW YOU WILL. Papyrus was a void of emotion, his thoughts cold and distant. 

dinner!

Papyrus raised a brow at that and Sans tried to push his idea.

He tried to think of Papyrus's excitement when he'd brought home the lasagna recipe Undyne had taught him. To share in the joy, forcing back his dread, pretending like it wasn't there. He wanted this. Alphys and Undyne were friends, she'd want to try the dish too.

Sans knew Papyrus took pride in his cooking, knew his desire to share it with others. Having others over was a thing people did. This would be normal.

YOU WANT A GUEST FOR DINNER? YOU KNOW I CAN'T LET HER LIVE.

i know! i know, just, dinner first?

AND WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR ME?

That was the question. There was a complete lack of feelings from Papyrus. He kept his control too tight, and Sans couldn't feel anything that Papyrus didn't want him to feel. Sans had no such ability. His only hope was being truthful.

i'll be good. 

It wasn't what Papyrus was looking for, not by itself. As disapproval crossed his face, Sans hurried to give him more. 

i'll try, i'll make you feel good. i-i won't just participate, i'll do it, i'll initiate, i'll be really good. then we'll have dinner, a nice meal together.

He was babbling, he knew, but he needed to give Papyrus what he wanted. Stars, he'd give anything for-

Papyrus nodded. Sans sagged back to the ground, overwhelmed with gratitude. Dinner, they'd get dinner.

Opening the connection, Papyrus let him feel his satisfaction. Papyrus liked Sans's gratitude. It was clear from him that Alphys would still have to die, but, like Sans said, dinner was a nice compromise. 

Unaware of their silent conversation, Alphys watched wild eyed as the two of them stared at eachother, only to give a small squeak of fright when Papyrus turned his attention back to her. Sans felt his momentary puzzlement as Papyrus tried to figure out what to do with their 'guest' until dinner. The only place that could be properly blocked off was the bathroom. 

Unbidden, memories jumped to the forefront of his mind. The experience of too much water, of drowning. Papyrus's hands on him. The fear that he would die by Papyrus's hand.

From his side, Papyrus shared. He remembered the terror well. And the feel of Sans's body pressed against his own. Of Sans, giving in, submitting to pleasure at Papyrus's hand. Accepting his brother.

This is what Sans would give him.

The smile that crossed Papyrus's face was frightening in its normalcy. Papyrus was pleased.

In a move that was almost casual with possessive claiming, Papyrus pushed Sans's Soul up into his own ribcage for safekeeping before turning to Alphys once more. 

She was staring at his chest, and it was easy to read the naked horror on her face. Reaching his hand out to her, palm up, Papyrus demanded, "Your phone, please, Dr. Alphys."

Doing her best to nod, Alphys reached into her pocket, struggling a little under the force of blue magic. She pulled out a white and red cell phone with a charm that looked like some sort of cat, and held it out to him with a shaky claw.

"Thank you," Papyrus said, taking it and putting it into his inventory. "Now," he said, squeezing his fist. Alphys began to twist, making choked noises. "I'm sorry about this, but I have to make sure you won't cause any trouble."

Alarmed, Sans crawled forward, the chain reaching just far enough for him to grab Papyrus's boot. Papyrus looked down at him, a small frown pulling on his features. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Sans. I'll wake her for dinner, we have a deal after all."

Alphys continued to struggle as long as she could, but Papyrus simply held on. Sans could only hope he'd been telling the truth. After a minute she sagged into his hold, unconscious, and Papyrus let up the intensity.

"I'm going to put her in the bathroom and then return," Papyrus told him, scooping Alphys into his arms. "Do not disappoint me, brother."

Then he left the room taking Sans's Soul with him, leaving Sans a shuddering heap on the floor. He felt empty, the pull of his Soul dragging like a fish hook in his ribs.

But he did what he was told- what he'd agreed to. His eyes welled with tears as he pulled his clothes off, until he was left with only the boot. He didn't want to think of the boot. Or his clothes, or of losing the only meager protection he had-

There was a warning pulse from his Soul as Papyrus followed his thoughts. Yes, he needed to focus. He's being good. He climbed on the bed.

When Papyrus returned to the room, Sans was waiting. When Papyrus loomed over him with a hungry look in his sockets it was all he could do to not collapse into himself with terror. Papyrus felt it, and his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

Oh, oh fuck, Sans was really doing this, wasn't he? It was ok, it would be ok. He could do this. 

Sans tried to smile up at him, to let him know he'd participate, he'd be good. If he was good Papyrus wouldn't have to hurt him, right?

Shedding his battle body, Papyrus climbed onto the bed, directly over him until Sans was caged in beneath him.

It could feel good, if he'd just submit. Submit to the desire. He wanted this. 

That last part wasn't him. He didn- Yes, yes he did. It was what his brother wanted and he'd do it for A- Papyrus. For Papyrus, because he wanted- needed him to be happy.

From what Papyrus shared through the link he could feel himself, small, terrified and oh, so helpless. But he was making an effort, and he felt Papyrus's pride in his own persistence. Give and take was working beautifully. 

Shying away from those thoughts, Sans reached up a shaky hand to touch his brothers ribs.

"Good, Sans," Papyrus breathed. Sans began to rub the bones, awkwardly trying to learn what felt good because it HAD to be good. The link made it easier, and he could feel his own bones warming in response as his fingertips traced the map of his brother's body. Papyrus seemed to like when Sans, with his slim, tiny hands, laced his fingers around the long ribs while Sans felt a traitorous echo of pleasure from slowly dragging a fingertip down the underside of his sternum.

Papyrus picked up on that immediately and, balancing on one arm, used his other hand to stroke that exact spot, showing more gentleness then Sans had seen from him in weeks. Combined with the desire being forced through him, Sans could feel the magic pooling in his pelvis, demanding to form from the hightened need from both of them. He didn't fight it, allowing it to fall into shape.

When it did, it wasn't what he was expecting. 

Noticing his distraction, Papyrus pulled back to look.

"Wowie!" Without tact or grace Papyrus shoved his hand between them, roughly forcing his fingers up and into Sans's newly formed entrance. It hurt, and Sans cried out, the feeling echoing through their link.

It sent a wave of arousal through Papyrus, and was enough to make his brother form his own parts. Sans shuddered, honestly terrified for what he knew would come next. Papyrus was so big, everything about him was big, and Sans was… not.

Closing his eyes, Papyrus removed his hand to mindlessly rut against Sans, chasing a pleasure he didn't fully know how to achieve. Sans reached for the emotion. He didn't need to feel good, if Papyrus felt good he could use that instead. He let himself go, giving into Papyrus's wants. It worked, and Sans felt himself warm, his breathing quickening as he began to want as well, to need for himself.

GOOD, GOOD, his brother praised, and the good feelings increased. Accepting was good. 

His pelvis ground against Sans's, not penetrating but rocking his leg. He tried to ignore it, but it rose until eventually the pain overrode the desire he was trying so hard to hold onto.

Papyrus paused just long enough to renew his grip on Sans's Soul. ENJOY THIS. BE GOOD. DON'T RUIN THIS.

The thoughts rushed through him. The threat of what would happen if he disobeyed loomed like the shadow of death itself.

i'm good, i'm being good, this is good, Sans babbled back. i've just never done this. i'm scared. i'm trying.

SHOW ME YOU'RE TRYING.

He would. He had to. Shifting, Sans spread his femurs, and pulled Papyrus's hips down to meet his. The head of Papyrus's cock slipped between his folds, the tip breaching inside him, but the rest of it was too large for one push. Papyrus moaned in unabashed pleasure, while Sans struggled to breathe around the force of the intrusion. 

Too much. It hurt, stars, it hurt. The link was still open, and as close as the Souls were in Papyrus's chest Sans could feel everything. Feel Papyrus's pleasure, his enjoyment of Sans's agony. He wanted Sans to hurt. 

Would this kill him? Would this finally be where Papyrus goes too far?

DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP? Papyrus asked as he leaned forward, slowly pushing himself deeper as Sans cried out in wordless pain. 

He did, but he couldn't. He wanted this to end, but he had asked for it. It was too much and he only had one hitpoint, but Papyrus made the rules. He didn't want to die like this! Stars, what was the right answer?

BEG ME TO STOP, SANS. BEG ME NOT TO KILL YOU.

The permission opened the floodgates to Sans's emotions, and his Soul screamed out with terror. 

please! please, i-i don't wanna die, paps! please stop! it hurts! you're hurting me! please don't kill me!

Above him, Papyrus pushed further still. His brother groaned in pleasure, his Soul pulsing with satisfaction when he finally finished hilting inside Sans. 

t-take it out! Sans begged, his body contracting helplessly around Papyrus's cock, each tremor making it feel even larger inside him. Papyrus pulled back, and Sans gave a grateful sob of relief, until Papyrus snapped his hips forward, burying himself fully into Sans in one violent thrust. Sans cried out again, blindly grabbing Papyrus's ribcage in a desperate attempt to find something, anything to ground him.

Then Papyrus began to move. 

Papyrus's hips thrust jerkily, inexperience making him rough. It felt like he was breaking Sans's pelvis in two, and the shock of it enough to distract him even from his broken ankle. Each time Papyrus withdrew, Sans sucked in a breath of air, only to lose it in a cry when Papyrus split him open again.

ah! ah! s-stop! ah! please! god, p-papyrus stop! stop!

But Papyrus didn't stop. Sans could still feel Papyrus's Soul and there was a darkness inside, one that said this might never end. Sans gripped his brother's ribs tighter, sobbing, as the darkness whispered that yes, maybe Papyrus would just keep going until Sans was dust around him.

Papyrus continued his relentless assault, pounding into him and Sans lost his words, his thoughts reduced to jibbering terror as his body was wracked with agony.

But then, Papyrus shifted his focus. The pain dropped off sharply, replaced with a pleasurable flood of emotions from Papyrus's Soul. He felt good- no, Papyrus did? He did? Yes. Papyrus felt amazing. IT FEELS GOOD.

Papyrus was forcing him to feel good. To need this. And stars, it was feeling good. Sans just had to give in if he didn't want it to hurt any more. He didn't want to hurt, he didn't want to die. 

Sans sobbed harder as he gave in, lifting his hips up as best as he could to match his brother's pace. That did the trick, and Sans cried out for a new reason as Papyrus thrust against something GOOD.

Sans did it again, accepting the pleasure. After all, it was what he'd agreed to, wasn't it? The warmth in him grew with Papyrus's precision thrusting, stimulation and his brother's intent becoming the only thing that mattered. His breathing grew hoarse as the feelings writhed inside him, winding him tighter, and tighter, pushing him towards climax.

He thought of the last time he felt like this, Papyrus against him, making him feel like this, coming into the water at his own brother's hand. His body shuddered with the memory.

Are you glad I did this?

Thinking he was being asked, Papyrus whole heartedly agreed, pushing himself more into Sans's mind.

OH YES, STARS YES, THIS IS WHAT I WANT! I'M GLAD! SO GLAD! I WANT THIS!

Sans was drowning again, choking, not on water but on Papyrus. His brother's pleasure and need beat against him, his thoughts forcing through Sans like an invading army, pushing out everything that wasn't Papyrus. No, Sans wasn't simply drowning anymore. Sans was lost.

Papyrus wanted this. Papyrus was glad. The feeling of it throbbed through their connection. His Soul pulsed against Sans, and Sans's gave a weak pulse in return. For the briefest instant they touched, and Sans was buried beneath the strength of emotions that were suddenly his. Sans wanted, truly wanted this.

This was everything he wanted. 

He came with a choked cry, his body shuddering around his brother's length as he was wracked with the overwhelming feelings. It was too much. He wanted this. Who wanted this? He did. Who was he? He was glad. He was glad he did this.

Papyrus cried out with him, giving a few, final jarring thrusts before locking up above him. Warmth spread through Sans's abdomen. Unresisting, Sans laid there, his eye lights staring past Papyrus to gaze sightlessly at the ceiling. When Papyrus pulled out, the view went dark as he felt his eyelights fade. A moment later, Sans shut his eyes as he felt his Soul return to it's proper place in his chest.

Sans was glad. There was nothing else. He was glad.


	3. Painsotti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I could put a summary here, or I could just say that things get better, yay! Then I take some happiness away. And then I had an idea and the whole thing got away from me. I have no excuse except for the fact that no one can stop me from writing whatever crazy scenarios come into my head.
> 
> Relevant song for this chapter, Welcome by Evilbeetle, whose name you probably already recognize as they're an amazing artist, but did you know they're a songwriter too?? :D  
> https://youtu.be/vxbSUBtLd-Q
> 
> I don't know how to warn for triggers, but this one definitely has self harm, starting at, "He began to write words."

With a gasp, Alphys woke up on the floor. As if that wasn't unusual enough, it was a bathroom floor. Sense suddenly flooded back to her, and she hurried to her feet. Sans! Papyrus! Oh, oh god, Papyrus was going to kill her! She had to get out, and get Sans!

She began searching her pockets for her phone, only to remember it was gone. Papyrus had taken it.

But what about- yes! She still had her smartwatch! Working a touch screen with shaking claws was less than ideal, but she sent a message to Undyne. And another. And another.

HELP IM TRAPPED IN PAPYRUS'S HOUSE

HES BEEN HURTING SANS

HES GOING TO KILL ME

Her watch flashed almost immediately.

OMW, HOLD ON

Alphys hoped that she could. Oh, stars, how long had she been out? How much longer did she have? She could hear Papyrus whistling cheerfully nearby, and pots and pans clanging together. 

Papyrus had said something about waking her up for dinner. As she remembered Papyrus, holding Sans's Soul like he owned it, she nearly retched. And Sans had offered it to him.

Sans had been wearing a suppression cuff, and from the look of it, he had been in it for a long time. It was likely that their only communication at this point was a- a soul m-

She did retch that time, doubling over to sick up into the toilet. Why, she wondered dizzily as she sat back again, did skeletons even have toilets?

Sans, poor Sans. Never in her worst nightmares could she have imagined that this was what had happened to her friend after he'd suddenly stopped posting jokes online. Papyrus was right, she wasn't his friend. A friend wouldn't have let this happen.

She let out a shriek as someone knocked on the door. "Oh, good!" Papyrus called cheerfully through the thin barrier. "I was worried you might sleep all day like my brother. When approaching an occupied restroom that I must enter, I'm supposed to ask if the occupant is decent. Dr. Alphys, are you decent?"

"N-no!" She tried, hoping the bluff would work. Hell, if he had a problem with walking in on someone indecent she was going to go full on blouse ripper minus the rugged hero.

There was silence for a long moment before Papyrus, more confused than upset, said, "Well, the book didn't say what to do when faced with a negative response. I suppose I'll just have to come in anyway."

"No, wait, you can't, I'm indecent!" She yelled, and ripped her shirt to make it true.

The door knob turned, and the door swung open. Papyrus, the living embodiment of terror, looked down at her with that ghastly, dead smile.

"Dr. Alphys?" He asked innocently, if that description could even be applied to him. "What has happened to your shirt?" 

"I-I'm indecent?" She said, trying to keep her voice from shaking and failing miserably.

He spent a long moment considering her, his head slightly tilted with his confusion. "Is that why I'm supposed to ask, so that I can be prepared to assist with a sewing emergency? But nevertheless, the state of your shirt has little to do with your ability to eat. So please, come with me. Dinner is ready." 

Instead of complying, she backed up, climbing into the tub to get further away from him. There was a faint pink stain to the inside of the tub, and she tried really hard not to think about that, or about Sans's reaction to the word 'bath'.

Papyrus just gave her a flat stare. "Oh, Alphys, you can't possibly think that will work." And then he turned her blue again.

She struggled, twisting in the air as he pulled her from the bathroom. She found momentary purchase on the door frame, but it simply splintered under her claws as he continued to drag her out.

"Perhaps you have more in common with my brother than I thought," Papyrus said darkly. There was something missing in his voice, and it chilled her. "You both like to make things so difficult. Now, I understand you must be quite upset about your shirt but I am simply trying to seat you in a chair for dinner."

Looking past him, she could see the chairs. And the duct tape. What in the name of the Angel was going on? She struggled harder, but he didn't even seem to notice as they crossed the living room.

"Someday," he said in a friendlier tone, more to himself than her. "I must find out how asking someone in a restroom if they are marked by moral integrity, kindness, and goodwill has anything to do with ripped shirts! Such a strange thing, though there must be some reason behind it." 

Before she could come up with any sort of response the door suddenly burst inward, breaking and scattering wood in all directions. Undyne barreled in with a yell, clanking through the wreckage in full armor, spear at the ready. Yipping, the Dog Squad followed behind. Dogamy, The Dogaressa, Greater Dog and Lesser Dog all stared down at Papyrus, weapons ready.

"Wowie, I wasn't expecting this many guests tonight!" Papyrus said brightly. "I don't think I have enough lasagna to feed everyone. Could you perhaps come back tomorrow?"

"Can it," Undyne snapped, her voice echoing strangely under the large helm as she pointed one heavily gauntleted arm at the tall monster. "Papyrus the Skeleton, you're under arrest! Put her down. Gently. Now."

Papyrus looked around the assembled group before giving a deep, resigned sigh. "No," he said, his voice heavy with regret. "I don't believe I will."

Then, Alphys suffered a nasty bout of vertigo as she was yanked against Papyrus's ribs, one of his arms wrapped around her chest to keep her in place. Papyrus shot his other arm out, bone constructs flying from his hands and sprouting up through the ground. There were dozens of them, each perfect and precise and going directly for the Guard.

The complexity and sheer amount of magic strength it had to take to control all these attacks stunned her. So Alphys was a little slow to realize that the Guard was losing. Undyne and the Dogi were hacking bones left and right, struggling not to hit each other in the confined space. Greater and Lesser were snapping at them with their jaws, but for every bone they dissipated, two more took their place.

And none of them could fight Papyrus while he held her. She had to distract him, but what could she do? She wished she had her phone, the electricity bullets were still in beta but it would probably have been enough to…

Her phone! It was in Papyrus's inventory! That was, if he still had it. He might have just dropped it, or worse, thrown it away. But, on the off chance…

Alphys crossed her fingers. "Hey, Mew Mew!" She shouted out, trying to trigger her phone's voice commands. 

Papyrus glanced down at her, and when her phone gave a quick three beep confirmation from inside his inventory, she yelled, "Activate routine Alpha Sixer Finale, authorization, Foxtrot Uniform!"

It gave another confirmation chime, and Papyrus pulled it out, looking at it quizzically. Oh, that was probably not good to have this close to her face. She began to fight again, but he just held her, all the while still fighting the Captain and the Dog Squad.

The phone chimed one final time, singing a decending series of notes before a synthesized voice said, "Goodbye."

Papyrus studied the phone while she ducked her head, hunching her shoulders as best as she could.

His voice was merely curious as he asked, "Was there something it was supposed to-"

He cut off as the relatively massive blast caught him right in the face. It caught her with it, pain blossoming along her back and neck. Using the distraction and thanking the adrenaline that kept her moving, Alphys kicked back with both feet, connecting with something solid that might have been a kneecap. Papyrus staggered, still off balance by the explosion, and she pulled free, dropping to the ground.

Leaving the stronger monsters to their battle, Alphys bolted for the stairs. Her shirt was wet against her back.

"Alphys!" Undyne called after her. "What are you doing?"

"Sans!" She yelled, glancing back at the commotion below as she reached the upper landing. "I have to get Sans!"

Seeing that the odds were no longer in his favor, Papyrus had tried to make it to the door. His face had been blackened from the phone's self destruct, and spidery cracks extended from his right socket. He'd taken serious hits running through the Gauntlet of Dog and Fish, but he still made the door, only to be surprised by Doggo coming in.

Doggo met him head on, the butt of his sword already swinging past the point of no return and right for Papyrus's head. It struck with a frightening crack, and Papyrus went down.

As Alphys yanked the bedroom door open, she heard Doggo whine into the moment of sudden silence, "Why, big guy?" Then the clamoring of armor and sounds of attacks firing roared back to life.

Alphys rushed into the room to find Sans curled into a ball on the bed. He was facing away from her, naked except for a red boot and a strange blue flesh that looked magical filling the inside of his abdomen from his ribs to his pelvic cavity. Past his spine, in the center of the translucent flesh was a brownish smear of color. It was muted now, but Alphys had a sickening certainty it had been orange.

"Sans?" She called softly, reaching to touch his shoulder. He didn't respond except to roll onto his back, tears falling silently from the edges of his closed sockets. 

"Sans, it's gonna be okay now," She said, shaking his shoulder gently, trying to get him to look at her. "You did it Sans, you saved me!"

Finally, slowly, Sans opened his eyes, but there was nothing in them. Just dark, black pits staring blankly at the ceiling. It frightened her, and she grabbed his skull with both hands, turning his face to look at her as she searched those empty sockets for some sign of life. 

"Please, come back," she begged. "Undyne's here now, you're safe! Papyrus is gone!"

God, she hoped he was. What if he escaped? Or worse, what if he won? No, she couldn't think like that! She had to believe in Undyne!

He blinked slowly, and when his sockets finally opened again this time Alphys could see the little white pips of light that made up his eyes. His face immediately scrunched up in distress, and Sans let out a soundless wail, his voice hampered by the suppression cuff on his neck. She let go of his face, and his hands moved up to grab at his stomach as he shook his head. 

He pushed and pulled at the blue flesh with sharp, frantic moves. Where his fingers clawed too deeply he left grooves, furrows that weeped with blue magic. 

"You're hurting yourself! Stop!" Alphys cried, horrified. She grabbed his hands, and his eyes focused on her. He said something, but Alphys still couldn't hear him. He tried again, slower, desperation for her to understand written clear across his face. It seemed like four short words, but Alphys had no idea what they could be.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying," she said, and he pulled one of his hands free. A moment of panic caught her, worried that he'd try to hurt himself again. But he only placed it against the magic of his stomach, staring at her with wild, sad eyes like he was hoping to will her to understand what he needed help with by sheer force of will.

"Alphys! Sans!" Undyne yelled from the hallway, her clanking armor giving warning before she came bursting into the room. Quickly, Alphys pulled up a sheet to cover him. "They've got Papyrus! Let's-"

She stopped, her helmet turning as she took in the situation. "Oh. Fuck."

For a moment, Undyne sagged, and Alphys thought she might fall over, but then she straightened, pointing to Alphys's torn shirt. "You're burned, and… My god, you, he didn't-?"

It suddenly occurred to Alphys that, at least with Sans covered, she must look the one that needs help. The back of her head and shoulder began to burn, as if the reminder brought the delayed pain. Her shirt wasn't just wet, she'd been bleeding all over it. Speaking of her shirt…

"N-not to me," Alphys said quickly, covering herself with a hand. At least her bra had remained intact. "I did that trying to buy time. But don't worry about me, we need to get Sans out of here. Can you break the chain?"

"Yeah," she said, summoning a spear. "Right away."

~~~

For Sans, the last few days had been a blur. He was out of the room, and the pure excess of stimulation around him nearly drew him back into a catatonic state. Everything blurred together. Things had changed so fast, too fast for him to fully take in at once.

He lived in the Lab now. Papyrus was imprisoned at the Capital. Sans had one less foot and two more crutches than he'd had a week ago. He couldn't unsummon his ecto flesh. The collar couldn't come off. He had all the paper in the world to write on now.

That last one was the easiest to understand. So Sans simply drew. Words would come eventually, but for now he just wanted to draw. It was easy. Easier than dealing with visitors, people coming to talk at him and spout senseless prattle about how everything would be fine, blah, blah, blah.

Things would never be fine.

The visitors weren't the worst part though. That miserable trophy went to the silence. Stars, how the silence clawed at him. The Labs had always been quiet, and while Alphys was always somewhere nearby he often couldn't hear her. It made him feel alone.

It made him feel like he was just waiting for Papyrus to return. 

To help him, Alphys had given him a music player, with thousands of songs to flip through. He'd put it on shuffle, and let the music guide his hand.

He'd been doing it for hours today, and page after page of what might generously be called musically inspired art littered the floor. As a new song came on, Sans grabbed a fresh sheet from the stack.

"Welcome to my little game," the song began, a woman singing.

It had string accompaniment, and he started with long loops and lazy circles.

"Welcome home my little toy."

Long banners. It was a pretty song.

"I hope you'll enjoy your stay,  
You'd best behave now, little boy."

Sans jerked, his pen drawing a harsh, discordant line across the paper. He froze, and for a moment so did the song, only for it to continue a few beats later, picking up in intensity.

"Sweets and treats and heartbeats,  
Ready to put on a show."

He stared at the paper he'd begun, dropping his pen in horror as he stared at the sharp line he'd ended on. Sudden pain spiked at the base of his ankle. He felt his bones start to tremble.

"Tamed little boy, propped on his seat."

Sans remembered the chair, where it started.

"All wrapped up, in little bows."

Sans remembered the chain wrapping around him.

"Isn't this splendid?  
Isn't this nice?  
Isn't it worth all the s a c r i f i c e ?"

Touching his stomach, Sans couldn't breathe. He felt cold. His leg, stars, it hurt.

"Come with me and you will see,  
The beauty of submitting your life to me!  
WELCOME TO THE BROKEN LIF-"

The sound cut out as he threw the headphones violently away. They struck the wall, the plastic shattering.

No more music. He really didn't mind the silence anyway. Really. He was fine.

Sans grabbed a fresh sheet of paper.

~~~

Alphys was getting concerned. 

No, that was putting it lightly. She was nearly freaking out. It'd been a little more than a month since she'd brought Sans to the Lab. He'd been doing… not well, but as well as could be expected.

Then Sans began throwing up.

"Sans?" She called as she entered his room. "I brought some oatmeal."

It had to be the food. Before he'd had nothing but infrequent helpings of spaghetti, and since he'd come to stay with her she'd shared her own food supply, which mainly featured ramen. 

That seemed to work fine for a little while but something must have changed. She considered maybe it was too much salt, so she was trying simple oatmeal today. Her other hypothesis was that perhaps the collar, and the buildup of magic it was causing, was somehow interacting with the low quality of her food. If gentle oatmeal didn't work, the next step was to try something more nutrient-dense that he wouldn't require as much of. The other option was to get rid of the collar.

She'd been studying, trying to learn how to siphon the magic away without releasing it all at once.

As best as she could tell, he'd been in it for a little over four months now. In even the weakest of monsters, that much time would cause a magic build up that could make an explosion to rival a human grenade. For a boss monster… Well, when stored magic released, all it would take is the barest flicker of intent, and the resulting explosion wouldn't be unlike a fusion reaction.

Alphys didn't have the proper baseline information for Sans's original magic level, but judging by the way magic practically buzzed around him, he had considerably more than a weak monster. As if his situation hadn't been complicated enough to being with.

"I'd like to talk about the collar again," Alphys told him, handing him the oatmeal. 

Sans looked curious as he took it, and his eyes lit up at the sight of the little dried strawberries in it. She gave a selfish sigh of relief. The only other kind she had was dinosaur egg oatmeal, and it was kind of her favorite. She'd share if he needed it, of course, but it was hard to find.

He looked back up at her, making a gesture towards his head and giving her a thumbs up and a questioning look. She brought a claw to her own head, touching the bandages around her head spikes gently. "O-oh, yeah, it's good. Healing. Undyne's been helping me with the wrapping. She's surprisingly good with burns."

Sans nodded, his smile coming back before he began to slowly eat the oatmeal. 

"So, about the collar. At some point we'll need to start draining the excess stored magic," she continued, "There's two complications, one being that we don't know how much magic you can stand to loose. W-with your stats I think there's a fine line between magic levels low enough to remove the collar and levels low enough to kill you."

She saw his smile quirk ruefully at the mention of his stats, and she felt terrible. It wasn't like she wanted to bring that up! Of course she knew he was a competent monster and that his stats did not define him, but here in this instant his low numbers were actually, damningly relevant.

"The other problem," Alphys said, pleased to see he was still eating, "is that even if we got the amount just right, draining you like that might not leave enough for your leg to heal. We can't risk the magic going septic from poor circulation. If it goes bad, well… we just need to hope that doesn't happen. As it is, the excess magic is probably helping you. How's your leg doing, by the way?"

Sans frowned, pulling his leg closer protectively. 

"Oh, Sans, you haven't been picking at it again, have you?" She asked with a sigh. If he was a cat she'd have put him in a cone already. She winced at her own ungracious thought. Sans had been through a lot, and she couldn't let her frustrations get to her. Shaking her head, she kept going.

"What this comes down to, is that we can't take the collar off, at least until you can keep down food and your leg heals. But we will. I promise, Sans."

He dropped his head, his body going completely still as he sat staring into his bowl. He looked so sad, and she hated being the cause. She knew this wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was all she had. 

"Sorry," she said, turning towards the door but a light knocking against the tabletop made her stop. Seeing he's gotten her attention, Sans put a finger up, asking her to wait a moment before he grabbed the pen and began to write on one of his many sheets of paper.

He held the paper up, giving her a slight, tired smile. On it, his precise, round handwriting was perfectly clear.

[thanks, al]

Alphys's heart swelled. Once again, her desire to help flared anew. He'd get better, someday. "Y-you're welcome, I-"

She was interrupted by Sans grabbing his wastebin and retching violently. Again. Well, that's what it was there for, after all. She waited for him to finish, pulling a package of wet wipes from her inventory. Apparently oatmeal was no better. She supposed there had to be nutrition bars somewhere around here. Maybe smaller bites will do the trick.

Hopefully it's nothing worse.

~~~

Sans had been right, his words did come back. When they did, he began to write letters again. He wrote them to himself. To Alphys. To Asgore. But mostly to Papyrus.

He demanded answers from the paper. Demanded to know why, where he went wrong. What had Papyrus been thinking? Was this what Papyrus had wanted to happen to his leg? The stump of his ankle was a constant, nagging issue. Sans wasn't sure which was worse, the aching or the itching. It only really hurt when he picked at it, but stars the itching! Just more symptoms to add to his growing list of ailments. 

The vomiting had begun to taper down, which was lucky. Despite Alphys's concerns, Sans knew without a doubt that the food had nothing to do with it.

Sans put a lot of effort into not thinking of the cause. It was the only thing he wouldn't write down. The one thing he wanted to know most of all. Why Papyrus had wanted this. Why he'd left him…

His attention skittered sideways from the thought, refusing to acknowledge it. Maybe someday. It wasn't like he could avoid it forever. 

But for now, he could and he did. Most days, Sans thought he did alright. In fact now that he was keeping food down and feeling stronger he'd started to think that maybe, just maybe, he was actually going to get better. 

But then there'd been a setback.

Ite started out so simply. He'd grabbed a new pen to replace the one he'd just emptied. The new pen was exactly like the rest of them. There was a point, a tube, and black ink. Only… this ink took a little longer to dry than the others had. Being left-handed, Sans tended to drag his hand across the words he'd already written. The ink, still wet, smeared across his bones. He froze, twisting his wrist to stare at it. 

He was dirty. It would need to be washed off. He knew Papyrus wanted him clean. Papyrus would take him to the bathroom, put him in the tub, and, and…

Are you glad I did this?

But… Papyrus wasn't here anymore. Papyrus was gone, locked in the Capital, far away. Sans didn't have to be clean anymore. Not if he didn't want to be.

Trembling, he pushed his right sleeve up and brought the pen to his exposed bone. He drew a line along his radius, watching the ink spread across the surface. He drew another line. And another. 

He began to write words.

'Are' and 'you' went on his radius. 'Glad' on his ulna. Taking off his jacket, he moved to his humerus to write, in heavy capitals, 'I DID THIS'. He pressed too deeply, and it burned. He went back over the other letters until they, too, burned.

Moving to a fresh space, he wrote it again. 

'are you glad i did this'.

A new spot.

'ARE YOU GLAD I DID THIS'.

Again and again he wrote it. He didn't dig the pen in as deeply as the first time, but he made up for it by writing on every available surface. On his arm. On his ribs. On his legs.

It especially hurt on his leg.

The pen wouldn't write on his ecto flesh, but that was alright. Sans had plenty of bone to cover.

But it was too slow. Bringing the pen to his teeth, he bit the tip off. Bitter ink flooded his mouth. He wiped his face with his hand, his grin spreading like the ink he could feel smearing across his skull.

He would never be clean again. 

The pen may not write on ecto flesh, but the ink smeared nicely from his hand. Dragging his hand across his stomach, it changed his ecto from blue to black. It made the tiny, inverted heart (and the fragile, growing shape inside) look like it was glowing with black light. 

The baby was dirty. It wasn't funny, but he laughed anyway. The baby was dirty with him. They would be dirty together.

By the time Alphys found him, silently laughing in the corner of the room, the pen was empty and Sans was a mess.

The Souling beat on.


	4. Sadnarelli

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans gets a burger, a Nice Cream, and some Temmie Flakes. Alphys tries Temmie Flakes and has a lightbulb moment. Sans backslides again.
> 
> Trigger for mild limb horror, I think? Sans should really leave it alone. If you want to avoid that, start this chapter at "A knock on the door made him startle".

Sans's stump itched like hell. He was sitting up in the bed Alphys had given him, in his own little converted bedroom in the Lab. The desire to remain covered in ink had passed quickly, and Alphys had kindly helped him clean it. There had been a few questions again about the reasoning behind keeping his ecto summoned, which he'd ignored, fairly certain she hadn't seen the Souling. Fortunately she didn't ask about the words.

Not even the ones he had carved into his arm. She had even been kind enough to give him a bandage that hid them nicely. "Until they could heal," she'd said. They both knew it was going to scar.

Shifting his troublesome, itchy leg, Sans finally set his book down on the little bedside table. He'd been trying to read, but the distraction had finally grown unbearable. Shoving the blankets down, he pulled his ankle (or what remained of it) into his lap. He was careful to keep it away from his stomach, which wasn't hard. He was barely even showing. 

Alphys had (repeatedly) told him not to mess with it, and he knew that he should probably listen to her, but it itched so badly. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to stop him. If he wanted to itch it again, he would.

He unwrapped the bandage, inspecting the cracks at the ends of his fibula and tibia made by where his broken tarsels had ground against them in the boot. All of his tarsels were gone now. The edges of bone were heavily flushed with red and blue as his magic and the Determination inside him worked together to try and heal the damage. It was probably just his imagination that it seemed to be turning dark.

Focusing at where the itch was strongest, he scratched at it gently, his phalanges dragging across the edges. It burned and satisfied together. When a fingertip caught on a rickety bone chip, he pulled at it, wriggling it like a loose tooth until it came free with a sharp sting. As soon as it broke off, it faded to powder across his hand.

Once more he ran his fingertips across the ends. There were still some weak chips, but it was better.

A knock on the door made him startle, and he pushed his leg back down, getting the sheet back up right as Alphys walked in. The smell of something greasy followed her in, and before she could say a word Sans knew Grillby was here.

"Sans?" Alphys asked, stopping just inside the doorway. "A-are you up for having a visitor today? Grillby's here. He's brought you some lunch."

This was the best news ever. Sans felt a smile grow on his face, a real one. Grillby had come by before, back when he was still sicking up every day, but ill as he'd been Grillby's food had been out of the question. Now, he nearly salivated at the thought.

Sans nodded eagerly to her, and she backed out to allow Grillby to come in, carrying a paper bag with a beautiful greasy stain. 

"…Hi, Sans," Grillby said, and Sans gave a small wave. He stepped closer, offering the bag. "…you look better today, …brought you a burger."

Sans reached out to accept the bag, hardly able to believe it was real. Opening it, the smell hit him tenfold. It was heavenly. His hands shook as he picked up the burger. It looked so good, he wanted to just shove the whole thing into his skull at once. Unfortunately, his mouth wasn't large enough so he compromised with himself by taking a really big bite. 

It was perfect, still hot and burgery with enough ketchup to drown in. Stars, how long had it been since he's had one of these? Months and months. There had been times where he thought he would never get the chance to have one again. He started to tear up, and told himself not to cry. Food was a stupid thing to cry over.

"…I'm sorry," Grillby's soft voice popped like dry tinder trying to ignite.

He didn't need to say it. Sans already knew, and didn't really care to hear it. Didn't want to, in fact. He took another bite. He just wanted to enjoy his burger.

"…I should have tried harder."

Sans swallowed his bite, his grin going rigid. He lowered the burger, looking up to meet the elemental's gaze.

Yeah, you really should have, he tried to say with his eyes. Why didn't you?

Grillby's flames dimmed, but he didn't say anything. Sans put the burger down on the bedside table next to his book, suddenly not very hungry. As he stared at it, he could feel his grin stretching wider. Funny, he'd almost forgotten how the entire town had abandoned him. 

Actually, it wasn't very funny at all.

"…Sans?"

Lifting an arm, he pointed at the door. He didn't look at the bandages that covered it.

"…Sans, please."

Get out! He tried to scream, but could only make an angry hiss of breath. Sans picked up the half eaten burger, and threw it at the elemental. Grillby raised his arm to block the makeshift projectile, grease and ketchup smearing across his nice white sleeve.

"…Alright."

And without another word, he left. 

Sans tried not to think about how he'd just sent away the only person from town that had even cared to look for him. The smell of the food hung in the air like an accusation.

When Grillby tried coming again two days later, Sans refused to see him. He began to refuse all visitors. 

The irony wasn't lost on him. But they hadn't seemed to mind so much the last time, had they?

~~~

For once, Alphys was feeling extremely pleased with herself. She'd spent the entire day in Waterfall, tracking down a Nice Cream and some Temmie Flakes at Sans's request. And she'd returned to the Labs victorious!

Sans had always been an extremely passive monster, current issues notwithstanding. The Grillby incident last month really hadn't helped the situation. At all. Sans took anything she gave him without complaint or suggestion, always professing, one way or another that he was _just fine, thanks_ when pushed. But she must have caught him in exactly the right mood this morning, because when she asked this time he'd hesitantly asked via notebook if she could bring him some Temmie Flakes, or possibly a Nice Cream.

The fact that he had actually asked her to find something for him was kind of a Big Deal. And he'd been so reserved about it, looking like he fully expected her to reject him out of hand. It broke her heart to think that he'd assume she deny him such a simple request, and had made her all the more determined to make sure he got it! 

"Sans!" She called before knocking and entering his room. "I got Temmie Flakes AND a Nice Cream!"

He'd been lying in his bed, reading again, but sat up as she came in. The pained wince he couldn't quite hide did not fill her with confidence on the state of his leg. Still, if it got too bad, he'd say something, right?

Plus, he was wearing the long robe she'd given him. He seemed to prefer wearing it over his jacket when he left his room, and looking closer she saw the book he had was new. It added up to mean that he must have used his crutches to go down to the research library again while she was out. That was promising!

"I caught a lucky break after getting the Temmie Flakes, because the Nice Cream Guy was in Waterfall today!" Alphys said, passing Sans the frozen treat and a little box with a Temmie face on it. "He was asking about increasing sales goals, and I suggested a loyalty program! He said it sounded like a good idea!"

Sans accepted the food with a nearly ravenous smile, and immediately began digging into the Temmie Flakes. Alphys was impressed and a little grossed out. She'd never actually seen anyone eat Temmie Flakes before and had honestly believed they were just cardboard bits. That was certainly what they looked like! But watching the way Sans dug into them like popcorn… she might have to try some in the future.

"So, I've been working on Mettaton's new chassis this week," Alphys said, and Sans gave an attentive nod, doing a pretty good job masquerading as someone that was actually listening. She didn't mind, it was nice to simply have someone to talk to.

She rambled for a while as Sans moved onto the Nice Cream. He stared at it for a long time before finally removing the wrapper, gently folding and setting it aside without reading the note. Alphys continued to talk about inconsequential things, pointedly not looking as Sans slowly nibbled at the Nice Cream.

Until he started to cry.

It was just a single tear, a drop of blue sliding down behind his jaw. If it hadn't been blue on white, she might not have even noticed. His eyes were unfocused, though he continued his slow… (enjoyment?) of the treat.

"Sans?"

He blinked, and quickly scrubbed a fist across his eye sockets. Giving her a half grin, he shoved the remainder of the Nice Cream into his mouth. Then he reached to the bedside table, where he kept a small notebook she'd given him to communicate.

She'd given him a new phone, and replaced her own as well, but he still seemed to prefer pen to paper. It was burning her up inside that she still couldn't get the collar, and the voice supression, off of him. A moment later, he handed her the book.

[sorry 'bout that. thanks for the snacks.]

"You're so welcome," she answered, "Anything i can get you, just let me know."

He gave her another smile, and his sockets crinkled in a way that hurt her Soul to see, but he only grabbed the Nice Cream wrapper. With as much care as he'd used to fold it, he spread it out on his lap. The text was just big enough for Alphys to make out from where she stood.

**'Knock, knock! You look adoorable!'**

Sans considered it, a new, pensive look on his face. Nudging him slightly with his notebook, Alphys asked, "Something on your mind?"

With a grin that looked suspiciously self depricating, he took the notebook back and wrote, [did i ever tell you about the time i was offered freedom?]

Her eyes wide, Alphys shook her head.

[right before you found me,] Sans wrote on with a conspiratorial grin. [a human appeared and told me the secret to escape.] When he showed what he'd written, he put a silencing finger up against his teeth, like he was sharing a real secret.

Alphys tried to keep her mixed feelings about that to herself. She hadn't realized he'd been having hallucinations. Did he know it? Did he still think it was real?

Dismissing those questions, she asked instead, "What did they say?"

This time his smile was definitely a little sour when he showed her what he wrote. 

[to open the door and leave.] It turned sharp as he took the page back, adding, [then i punched them in the face.]

"What?!" Alphys exclaimed. That was so unlike Sans that she couldn't even picture it. "Why?"

At the look on her face, Sans gave a small breath of a laugh. It startled her further, the first sign of real amusement he'd shown in the months since coming here.

[testing a hypothesis. results were inconclusive.]

Well, that much was very like him. She gave him a smile back, warmed by the reminder that he was still a science dork.

"Then what did they do next?" She asked.

When his smile fell, she immediately regretted her question. His next note came a little more slowly. 

[said they were sorry and vanished.]

Alphys chewed on her words for a minute before finally, hesitantly, saying, "That sounds like a very vivid hallucination."

Sans gave another amused huff and nodded. [it was, i know.]

Silently, Alphys gave a sigh of relief. She didn't think she'd be able to handle schizophrenia, no matter how much she wanted to help. As it was, she was already a broken person trying to help another broken person. She blinked, recalling something.

"Hey Sans," she said, regaining his attention from where he sat lost in thought. "Do you remember what the ferryman said when we brought you here?"

Sans turned his head to look at her, searching her face with an interested set to his brow before shaking his head, 'no'.

It wasn't surprising. When they got in the boat to come to the Labs, Sans had been traumatized, delirious, barely conscious.

"It was... odd." She admitted. "They looked at you, and only you, for the whole trip. And you know that part where they say, um, weird things?" When he nodded, she continued, "He said, 'Open doors fix broken toys.'" 

His eyes widened, and Alphys couldn't help flinching at what she'd said. Before he could get the wrong idea, she hurriedly added, "N-not that I'm calling you that, of course! I, well, this just reminded me, that's all."

Sans started to write again, then held up the notebook. [it's ok. they're strange, right?]

Relieved he didn't take it personally, Alphys nodded and Sans brought the book back to his lap. She thought Sans was done, but he picked up the pen once more and wrote something short. When his pen dropped, he didn't share it, just looked up to stare into the space ahead of him.

She leaned closer to see he'd written. [but I wonder]

When he still didn't write any more, she prompted him. "Wonder what?"

He looked at her then, his sad eyes brimming with a thousand questions and regrets that he couldn't put into words. The weight of it crushed her, and she suddenly, desperately wanted a hug, anything to stave off the Soul wrenching loneliness that suddenly threatened to tear her apart.

Then he dropped his eyes back down to his notebook, writting while Alphys remembered how to breathe again. There were tears in her own eyes.

[nevermind. thanks again.] Then Sans closed the notebook, and Alphys knew a dismissal when she saw one. Maybe another Nice Cream would help.

~~~

Sans could tell Alphys had something on her mind. She'd been in a foul mood for a few days now, and Sans was just waiting for it to blow over like it always did. She'd rant and rave, post something angry online, and then go back to her regular self after some good sleep. It was routine enough to be normal, though he'd noticed it tended to negatively affect his own moods after it went on for a few days, and this stretch had nearly been a week. Still, it was more or less expected. 

But what had been unexpected was her storming into his room like a short yellow thundercloud, her eyes flashing with something perilously close to accusation.

"S-Sans! Y-you!" She stuttered, apparently too agitated to properly form words. "I-I can't believe this! Is it-? Are you really?!"

Sans ignored her, idly wondering what he'd done while he waited for her to find the point. She either get there or she'd leave, the latter being the preferable option. His leg had been hurting him again. 

He didn't scratch at it anymore, not since it truly began to blacken. The fact that it had was undeniable. So he's been doing what he did best with things that ~~scared~~ bothered him. He ignored it. Hopefully whatever she was riled up about would be over quickly. It was easier to pretend everything was fine when he didn't have an audience.

"The vomiting? The specific food requests? Craving non nutritional substances? I tried them Sans!" She was yelling now. "Temmie flakes really are just- they're just cardboard bits!"

Oh, so that's what this was about. So much for his quiet afternoon.

"Y-you're pregnant?!" Alphys cried, her voice breaking on the word.

It wasn't exactly like he'd been keeping it a secret, he just hadn't brought it up knowing that it would have to come into the open sooner or later. The robe he normally wore was just oversized enough to hide his stomach when he leaned forward, and he tended to sit in the bed in a way that made his shape indistinct. But it had been about five months now, and his stomach had been growing daily. 

Eventually she would have noticed. Or maybe he'd have just surprised her one day with an infant in his bed. Hard to say. Like his leg, he ignored it. He didn't even look at his stomach anymore. With a long t-shirt it was easy. With the robe, even more so.

With a sigh, Sans closed his latest book, Modern Physics for Science and Engineering. A year ago he wouldn't have even bothered, but now the refresher was nice. His mind was starting to work again. 

"W-well? Are you?!" Alphys demanded. 

Instead of grabbing his notebook to answer, he simply stared at her. Alphys, being Alphys, undoubtedly would have done some research before confronting him directly, so she certainly already knew. It was really only surprising that she hadn't found out before. Undismissable ecto didn't exactly come with a long list of causes, after all.

Besides, it wasn't like he'd wanted this.

Alphys gestured wildly, looking around the room like the answers she was looking for might be hiding somewhere in the corners. "I don't- I mean- How??"

Sans sent her a scathing look. Of all the stupid questions he'd had to put up with over the course of his life, that definitely had to be in the top three. Right up there with-

From under his sleeve, his arm itched.

"No!" She said, pressing a claw against her forehead. "That's not what I- For one, Sans, you're a male!"

Now he grabbed for the notebook. Her anger was contagious, and Sans wrote his answer with short, harsh strokes.

[sure i am,] he agreed easily. [and you can tell that by my lack of child bearing hips, right?]

After reading that she faltered. Then she tried, and failed, to not look at his hips. "Do you have child bearing hips?"

He felt his eye socket twitch. [there's a simple answer to that. Fuck You.] He might have ripped a hole in the page writing that.

He knew lashing out at her wouldn't help, but stars, he was annoyed. And now that he'd started, it was hard to stop. She flushed, her scales turning pink in a mix of irritation and embarrassment. He hurried to write more. 

[let me guess, that skeleton info you looked up was probably pretty damn vague on the pronouns, right? that's for a good god damned reason, as it turns out!]

"It- it says you had to want it!" She shouted as he finished, only to cover her claws over her own mouth in shock.

She might as well have slapped him. How… how could she say that to him? He felt hollow, cored like something had been ripped from inside him. 

And, like a light turning on in a dark room, Sans realized his mistake. He'd thought Alphys was his friend. Then again, he'd thought the same of Grillby, hadn't he? Hell, even Papyrus, for that matter. And all those friendships had worked out spectacularly, hadn't they?

He supposed he was an excellent judge of character. 

Sans put on his best smile. [i know,] he wrote calmly.

She practically fled his room after reading that, only to come back a few hours later. Sans smiled blandly at her as she tried to apologize, citing stress and poor sleep. He didn't care. He just waited, silent until she left.

Things seemed to get easier after she found out. Maybe it was the increased food she began to offer, given with the occasional Nice Cream that he no longer enjoyed. Maybe it was increased alone time he got now that she didn't join him for meals. 

Maybe it was the fact that he didn't fucking care anymore.


	5. Farfalle(ing Down)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans's avoidant tactics might just backfire on him. All at once. Badly.
> 
> Alphys, noooo! Oh, welcome back Papyrus! How could this possibly go wrong? Let's count the ways.

Despite (or maybe in spite of) new revelations, Alphys couldn't ignore Sans's obvious physical discomfort any longer. Sans was avoiding the problem of his leg. He didn't leave his room hardly at all anymore, and when he did his skull broke out in a pale sweat. Enough was enough, and Alphys knew she had to do something about it before the worst happened.

He sure wasn't going to.

"Sans," Alphys said, finally confronting him in his room one evening. He was sitting on his bed, reading, and now that she was looking for it, the swell of his stomach was obvious. She felt stupid for not realizing it before, but she'd hadn't even had the faintest idea it was possible. He didn't even bother to look up when she spoke. "We have to talk about your leg. It's going to kill you."

He shrugged noncommittally, a smile on his face and his eyes glued to his book. He smiled all the time now. Somehow, Alphys didn't think it was a good thing. 

(She remembered the moment of betrayed horror on his face when she'd snapped at him. That look haunted her.)

Alphys exhaled through her nose at his passivity. "We're going to need to do something." 

He looked at her then, raising a brow as if to say, "And?"

As clinically as she could, she stated, "I need to assess how bad your leg had gotten. And to find out, you'll need to let me see."

He tried to wave her off. He was fine

She knew that gesture well by now. "No, it's not," she insisted, fighting back her irritation. "I can tell by the way you move that the pain stretches all the way up your femur now. Please, can I see?"

Ignoring her, he went back to reading. She knew it was an avoidant tactic, and sometimes it was enough to get her to leave. Not today. 

"If it kills you before you have the b-baby," she said, determined to hold her ground, "they'll die too."

It was a shot in the dark. She had no reason to believe that Sans actually cared about the child at all, she could only hope.

Finally, with a resigned exhale he reached for his notebook. Pulling the pen from the spiral, he flipped to a blank page and wrote:

[then you'll leave me alone?]

She paused, frowning before she answered, "That depends on if it's bad enough to threaten the b-baby." She hated how she stuttered over the word again. This was too important to screw up.

With that creepy, absent smile he always seemed to wear lately, he pulled the book back, scratching out the question mark and adding a few words.

[then you'll leave me alone. deal or no?]

It was something, at least. Not quite what she wanted, but it would have to do for now. "...Alright. Deal."

Dropping the pen and notebook, he picked up his reading book again before lying down on his good side, facing away from her. 

Carelessly he threw the light sheet he used as a blanket away, exposing the wreckage of his leg. Alphys recoiled from the sight, caught off guard by the extent of the damage. It wasn't as bad as she'd feared. It was worse.

Much, much worse.

"St-stars, Sans..." She whispered.

What remained of his tibia and fibula was covered in corrupted patches of infected magic so dark they were nearly black. Vivid streaks of red and blue extended up his leg from the rough edge like cracks, wrapping around dusty little holes where pieces had fallen out. 

His patella was no better, the bone crossed with dead, dark patches and more angry streaks. Though the corruption was less pronounced on his femur, only a few inches of it could be seen past his shorts and the bone was a muted, sickly grey. 

"H-how far up does it go?" She asked quietly. She almost didn't want to find out.

He shrugged before turning another page, pretending to be completely engrossed in the text.

Rather than calling him out on it, Alphys reached towards his pant leg. "May I?"

He shrugged again.

It was as good of a response as she was going to get, and it wasn't a negative. Gently, she pushed the bottom of his shorts up higher, exposing the joint of his hip. From this angle she could see under the lower edge of his shirt to the blue of his stomach, and past the curve of his hip she could just make out the shapes of tiny bones. Her breath caught in her throat.

The baby. It really was a baby.

Before he could notice her distraction, she refocused on his hip and the task at hand. The rest of the bone looked healthy enough, but the magic connecting his pelvis and femur together looked angry and bright. Even from a distance she can feel the heat coming off of it. As gently as she could, she touched the ball of his femur, only to quickly pull back when he gave an involuntary hiss of pain.

"Sans… this isn't good," Alphys said, and Sans grabbed the notebook again. His smile was as placid as ever, a sharp contrast to the vicious way he ground the pen against the paper. "In fact, this is really, really-"

He cut her off, shoving the book in her face. 'leave me alone' had been repeatedly underlined, and 'deal' was surrounded in angry circles. Putting her hands up, Alphys backed off, accepting defeat.

"Yeah, okay," she said, heading towards the door. "We had a deal. I'm going."

But this was far from over.

~~~

"The leg has to go. It's gone septic."

The flat way Alphys said those words concerned Undyne to no end. In fact, Alphys had been borderline disconnected all day. They were in one of the lab rooms, Alphys sitting up on an exam table as Undyne checked her burns.

"Are you sure?" Undyne asked, gently unwrapping the bandages around her head spikes. "I mean, I saw him in your book room, and he was smiling. Isn't he getting better?"

"I've been trying! But…" she trailed off, lost in thought for a moment while she stared at her feet. "Something changed. He's gotten worse, even if it's harder to see. But none of that will matter if…"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Undyne asked, tugging gently at one of the bandages caught under a scale.

"N-no," Alphys said, shaking her head a fraction. "But what choice do we have?"

"And you're sure it'll work? He's only got one hp."

"And you think I don't know that?!" Alphys snapped, and Undyne pulled back, too quickly. The strip in her hand caught and ripped a scale, making Alphys hiss in pain before lowering her head in obvious misery. "…S-sorry, I'm just so tense"

Undyne was quiet as she pressed a fresh cloth to the damaged scale until it stopped bleeding. "Sorry for that."

"I'm so scared," Alphys continued in a whisper. "Scared that I rescued him, only to k-kill…" She turned her head to look at Undyne directly, her eyes full of tears as she insisted plaintively, "I don't want to be the cause of his death! Every week that passes makes it more likely he'll die no matter what I do! He needs surgery, and I just don't think I have enough control over my magic for this!"

It hurt her Soul to see Alphys like this. There had to be something. Someone that could help.

"I…" Undyne started, but trailed off as she thought better of it. It was a bad idea. "Nevermind. Your scales are growing in well. We don't even need a fresh wrap. Another month and it'll be like nothing happened."

"What is it?" Alphys asked, staring at Undyne like she could find the answer on her face. "What were you going to say?"

Undyne wrapped the used bandages around her fist, buying a moment to think. Alphys reached up, grabbing her hand. 

"Please, Undyne, I'm desperate," she begged, and Undyne gave in.

"I know one monster with incredible magic control," Undyne admitted cautiously. "And incredibly good healing abilities."

"Really? That's exactly what we need!" Alphys exclaimed, clutching tighter at Undyne's fist. The hope in her eyes was painful to see. "If I had someone like that, we'd have the surgery immediately! You have to tell me, who is it?"

"It's… Papyrus."

Alphy's face fell, and Undyne winced. 

"Oh," Alphys said, letting go of her hand.

"Yeah." Undyne sighed, trying not to think about how cold her suddenly uncovered hand felt. "Seriously, he's almost unmatched. I let his potential blind me."

She'd screwed up. No one could be everywhere at once, not everyone could be saved every time. It was just the way things were. But this was diferent, she'd let a bad monster hurt a good monster right under her nose. Every day she had seen Papyrus, trained him, cooked with him. To know now that he had been going home and doing… that.

Undyne should have known. Somehow.

Despite the bad news, Alphys still had a contemplative set to her snout. "Would he… do it? After…?"

"I know he would. He still doesn't understand what he's done." Undyne made a face, sickened by the things Papyrus had told her. He insisted he'd done nothing wrong. He insisted he loved Sans. The twisted thing was, she believed he thought it was true. "If we can convince him it'll help, which shouldn't be hard, he'll do it, and do it well."

Alphys hopped down from the table, a determined look settling on her face. "The sooner we do this the better. Can you have him here tonight?" 

"Yes..." Undyne said guardedly.

"Good," she nodded, reaching a hand out for the bandages. Now that she had a plan, she was like a whole new monster. "I'll have Sans on the table at 8."

Undyne's eye widened in surprise as she handed them over. "You're that confident that he'll agree? Are you going to tell him about Papyrus?"

Alphys didn't reply. She simply tucked the bandages under her arm and headed for the door.

"You've got to tell him," Undyne said, following right behind her.

Alphys continued her silent, steady pace down the hallway. 

"Alphys? Alphys, answer me!" Undyne called, and when she still refused to answer Undyne reached out to grab her shoulder. She stopped, but kept her face forward, her eyes glued to the tiles at her feet. "He's not going to agree, is he?"

The silence stretched, and Undyne felt a chill. She already knew the answer. It was wrong. A violation. He'll never forgive you. The words hung between them, unsaid. Alphys's shoulders sagged like she felt the weight of them anyway.

"…It doesn't matter. He'll be there. You just bring Papyrus." She pulled free and continued walking. "It's what we have to do."

Undyne stared after her. She could say no, could tell Alphys that she wouldn't betray Sans's trust like that. Alphys can't do this without her help. She could hold her ground and keep her integrity. It would be the right thing to do.

And Sans would die.

Saying nothing, Undyne resumed walking behind her. They had almost reached Alphys's office when the smaller monster stopped again. 

"One more thing. Any healing that would go to his body instead goes to the child. He's going to need all he can get." She gave a shuddering sigh, her thumb claw mindlessly working a hole into the wrap she held as Undyne watched her mentally weigh her next words. "When we do this… one way or another the pregnancy has to end. It's really for the best."

It hadn't quite been six months. It had to be too early. She bit her lip, before asking, "Can you save it?"

For a long moment Alphys didn't answer. Undyne saw her take a deep breath and said dully, "It's the only way to save him."

They stepped around the corner, and Sans was there. He was resting against the wall, wearing the same long robe she'd seen him in earlier. It hung over his clothes, hiding everything but his skull and hands. The way he leaned over the crutches protected his stomach from view, and you could barely see that he only had one slipper. He looked a little tired, but except for the whole crutches thing, Sans was very good at hiding the fact that anything was wrong. 

If Alphys hadn't told her, Undyne never would have guessed. 

His smile was the same as it always was, but his stare made Undyne uncomfortable. It was like he didn't blink enough or something. Had he heard them? That was ridiculous, she had to be projecting. He couldn't possibly be smiling if he had, right? 

It was like she'd been given a second chance to make the right choice. All she had to do was warn him. Was it really as bad as Alphys seemed to think?

Doing her best to give him a friendly smile, she turned back to Alphys.

"Hey, I gotta go. I, uh, I'll see you tonight, okay?" 

Alphys nodded, her expression serious. "Yeah, see.you tonight."

Undyne could swear she felt Sans's eyelights on her back as she left. He'd never forgive either of them. But he'd be alive.

~~~

When Alphys came to bring him his dinner that evening, Sans could tell something was off. He'd been lying down again, the pain in his hip growing near unbearable. Going down to the research library today had been a mistake, one he was certainly paying for now, but he wasn't about to ask Alphys for help getting him books anymore. Though the effort had come with a bonus this time, Sans had caught them plotting something.

He didn't know what (to his eternal frustration the physical exertion had left his magic pounding too loudly in his head for him to make out the words) but they hadn't even tried to hide their guilty expressions.

It was the same look Alphys was wearing now. Ignoring his body's increasingly painful warning signals as he bent, Sans sat up straight.

The child within him shifted in protest, and Sans saw Alphys catch the wince of distress he couldn't quite cover fast enough. The baby moved often now. He wasn't exactly sure when it would come, but he feared it wouldn't be long. He wasn't ready.

Instead of backing off like she normally did when he was hurting, Alphys ignored his reaction, keeping her eyes on the floor. It did nothing to hide the steadily growing guilt on her face as she put the tray with oatmeal down in front of him. He tapped on the table, a demand that she look at him. Her eyes flicked up to his face and back again, but that small moment told him everything he needed to know.

Whatever she had been planning with Undyne was coming to a head. Now. And she wasn't about to share her plans with him. Which could only mean she already knew he wouldn't consent. 

The baby. It had to be about the baby. She'd reacted so poorly to the news of it, he was fairly sure she was against him having it. Had Undyne felt the same? Fuck, it wasn't the baby's fault! Were they coming for it now? It was too early! They wouldn't survive!

Forcing himself to keep his face calm, he grabbed the notebook. As he started to write, [what is this], she interrupted. 

"P-please Sans. I need you to eat this."

He shook his head, his smile dropping for the first time in weeks as he narrowed his eyes at her. She flinched but didn't back down.

"I really, really need you to eat this," she insisted.

In response, he shoved the tray off the table. It clattered loudly, spilling oatmeal across the floor. Alphys watched the bowl tumble to a stop with a sad but undeterred expression.

"When this is over," she said, reaching into her pockets. "Just remember that I tried, okay? I wanted to do this the easy way."

Sans felt a spike of alarm when she pulled out a rag and a small dark bottle. He pointed at them, demanding answers.

"It's something to help," she said, dousing the rag with liquid from the bottle. It had a sharp, chemical smell, like acetone, that grew stronger as she approached his bed.

He pulled back, trying to push away the arm that reached for his face. The movement jarred his leg, and he froze at the wash of agony that rolled through him. She grabbed his right arm, holding him still, and her claws seemed to burn against his scars. There was nothing he could do about her, as she ignored the weak fluttering of his other hand. It seemed almost easy for her to push through and press the rag against his nasal aperture, holding it in place even as he tried to shake his head no, no!

There was a sickly sweet undertone to the medicine he was being forced to breathe. He felt it burn through his magic, making him warm. With the warmth came numbness. His arms dropped, too heavy to hold up.

Sans couldn't move.

He stared at her, fighting to keep his sockets from sagging shut as he tried to huff out, "Why?"

Why was she doing this? Why did she want to kill his baby? Why hadn't she just talked to him first?

"It's for your own good," she said. Liar, she was a liar.

The warmth was everywhere now, pulling him down. He tried to fight it, but he was weak. Fighting her was as useless an effort as everything else in his life had been. 

An old joke came to him. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Hmm… wait, something's not right. He didn't have any friends. A helpless giggle overtook him as his eyes closed. Or maybe it was a sob.

"I'm sorry, Sans."

It was the last thing he heard before drifting off to sleep.

~~~

Papyrus was the most excited he'd been in ages! They were finally taking him to see Sans! He was giddy, practically skipping behind Undyne as she led him into the Lab.

He still had the cuffs on, but Undyne had assured him that she'd take them off as soon as it was time to tend to his brother. Poor Sans, surrounded by all these monsters that just didn't know how to properly care for a brother!

The damage he himself had taken from Doctor Alphys's phone and Doggo's sword hilt was nearly healed. He'd been wrapping it himself, and as he considered it, the agony was rather minimal.

He was escorted down the hall towards what must be the surgery room. 

Undyne stopped them outside the door. "Repeat to me what we're here for."

Papyrus gave a deep sigh. "To assist Doctor Alphys with her surgery on Sans to remove bad bone from his ankle wound. He never takes care of anything properly, that's why-"

Rudely, she interrupted him. "And repeat to me what YOU'RE here for."

With an even deeper sigh, Papyrus repeated back what he'd been told. "To use my magic control and healing abilities to keep Sans alive. Which, honestly, would never have been an issue if you'd just-"

"Cut it," Undyne snapped, interrupting him again. Really, what was the point of asking him questions if she wasn't going to listen to his answers?

"I didn't ask for more," she continued, her voice unnecessarily angry. "You will not speak to him. You will not touch him unless absolutely necessary. You have done wrong and this is the least you can do to help him."

He disagreed with that last part immensely, but knew by now that it was useless to argue the point with her. Instead, he said, "Alright. Now, can I see him?"

Undyne didn't answer, but she did open the door and he followed her through it. The little room was crowded. Dogamy and the Dogaressa were near the door, standing at attention with their full focus trained on him. In the far corner was a boxy robot chassis that Papyrus might have mistook for Mettaton except that it wasn't moving. Next to the surgery table Alphys stood, dressed head to tail in green scrub gear and looking very much like the doctor she was.

Alphys did a double take when she saw him, obviously impressed by the impeccable wrapping job he'd done to his skull. He was still a little miffed that she'd attacked him like she had, but he was a gracious monster and, if she asked, he'd be more than happy to give her tips on how to properly care for bones.

And there, in the center of the room, looking so small and fragile on the large surgery table, was Sans. On his back, sleeping, of course. It goes to figure that his brother was so lazy that, given the choice, he didn't even want to wake up for a visitor, not even a visitor as great as the Great Papyrus.

As Undyne escorted him to the edge of the table, Papyrus finally got a good look at his brother. There was a sheet hanging from a bar above him, crossing like a curtain over his ribs. A second sheet covered his legs and body, pulled up to his chest, and for a moment Papyrus watched it rise and fall slowly with his brother's breathing. His stomach was large, blue magic flesh glowing just enough to be seen through the fabric. Papyrus supposed that it was good that they were at least feeding him enough.

There was a tube sticking out from the corner of his mouth that Papyrus could tell was dripping a wan, greyish brown liquid behind his teeth. He didn't appear to be wearing a shirt and everything from his clavicle up was discolored and chalky. It looked like he'd fall to dust if someone so much as breathed on him. As Papyrus looked at his brother's closed eye sockets and the deep shadows underneath them, a shiver ran through him.

Part of Papyrus could hardly believe that someone could look so wretched and still be alive. To say he looked a step away from death would be taking it lightly. This is what Sans had become, a small voice whispered in the back of his mind, and it's all your-

No! It's all their fault! Papyrus corrected himself quickly. Honestly, they must be the worst caretakers in the world!

"Is everything ready?" Undyne asked, looking towards Alphys. 

"A-all set on my end," Alphys answered.

"Good," Undyne said, turning towards Papyrus. "I'm going to take off the cuff now, and you're going to do your very damn best to keep your brother stable. If you try anything, four very capable monsters and one killer robot will put you down faster than you can say, 'bad idea'. If you try anything, your brother will die from this. You understand?"

Oh, he understood. It just meant anything he did would have to be after the surgery. The puzzle of how to take all of them out was already taking form in his head. Past experience had shown that Alphys would make an excellent living shield.

Of course, he didn't mention any of that. He simply said, "Understood."

Strangely, Undyne didn't look like she believed him, but she edged him closer to Sans's head and removed the cuffs. The feeling of his magic returning to him was exhilarating. It filled him with energy, making him want to run, to fight, to f-

Later. Everything would come in due time.

Reeling himself back, he placed his hands on the table on either side of Sans's head. It was good to be back with him. After this was done, he was going to make sure that no one would ever be able to take Sans away from him again.

"O-ok Papyrus," Alphys said. "K-keep an eye on his hp and I'll be as f-fast as I can."

Papyrus nodded, never taking his eyes off his brother's face. On the other side of the curtain, Alphys got to work on her procedure. A smell, like electricity and copper, with just a hint of burnt bone, began to permeate the air. As Papyrus kept a constant Check on Sans, feeding magic whenever his health started to wobble, he wondered how much she was going to have to fix. He hoped it didn't reach to his knee yet. That would make it hard to find boots later that are tall enough to hide the missing pieces.

He wondered what Sans would think about his face. Scars were supposed to be rugged and attractive, after all.

True to her word, Alphys worked quickly. "Done," she declared, and Papyrus looked up at her. There was an alarming amount of dust on her gloves and Papyrus felt a bit of concern that perhaps she'd taken more than he'd thought. 

"That part's finished, now," she said, glancing at Papyrus before giving Undyne a meaningful look. "One part to go."

Undyne nodded, and Alphys moved from the side of the table to the end, the sheet completely blocking her from Papyrus's view. When Undyne looked away from him to watch, Papyrus looked at Sans again. Soon, he thought, gently touching his hand to the side of his brother's skull.

Without warning, Sans twitched violently, a shudder running through his body. It was the largest movement he'd made since this all began.

"He's fighting the sedation!" Alphys yelled. "Undyne, hold him down! Dogaressa, help me!"

Papyrus watched in slow motion as the chaos erupted around him. He looked down at his brother, and Sans opened his eyes. Sans was fully awake. There was no fuzziness, no confusion. Sans looked directly into Papyrus's eyes…

And screamed.

There was no sound coming from his mouth, but Papyrus heard Sans's scream inside his very Soul. Sans began yelling, and for the first time, Papyrus heard his brother's silent words.

no don't touch me i hate you i hate you die die DIE.

He… he hates me? The truth of it hit Papyrus like a club, finally knocking something loose inside him. He really, truly hates me? But everything I did was-

For yourself, his mind accused.

No, I… I wanted Sans to-

You wanted him for yourself.

But-

YOU DID THIS. LOOK AT HIM. 

And in a moment of Soul stopping clarity, Papyrus looked. For the first time, he saw Sans. And saw what he had done to him.

His brother, who used to be all grand smiles and warm attention, was now a broken thing, scared and panicking. 

Sans struggled, ripping down the hanging sheet and when Undyne went to restrain his wrist she moved the sheet covering his chest, revealing his arms.

Papyrus saw the words there, etched deeply into bone.

'Are you glad I DID THIS'

Papyrus had taken something beautiful, and ruined everything. 

The feel of his HoPe dropping was like stepping off a cliff.

Without warning there was a zapping sound and Alphys cried out in pain. Papyrus's head whipped towards them as the Dogaressa took what Alphys had been holding before whining in pain herself.

Then there was a new sound from the Dogaressa's arms. The wail of a newborn infant. Papyrus may not know the font name, but a skeleton font is unmistakable.

"It's not him, it's the child!" Alphys was yelling at someone. "The child's doing the damage! Don't touch them!"

Papyrus leapt towards the Dogaressa. She was holding the child (the child!?) with the sleeves of her robe, the new voice wailing in distress. It was a high, warbling cry made of strange characters that twisted, misshapen and strange. Papyrus stretched an arm out, touching the infant with the tips of his phalanges before she could pull back.

TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THUD.

It was like touching a live attack. Someone yanked him back, only for him to be tackled by Dogamy as Mettaton snaked a metal arm in, clasping dampener cuffs on his wrist. He barely noticed.

He checked himself.

PAPYRUS LV1  
HP 602/640  
ATK 20  
DEF 20  
CoRRupTioN cLeared

He'd barely touched the child for a second. Alphys and the Dogaressa must have taken damage from them the same way. More alarming was his drop in HoPe. He had topped out at 680 this morning. He didn't understand the last part, didn't know anything about corruption. But he finally understood what he'd done.

Oh… no, Sans...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus cookies for you if you caught the Genocide dialogue! <3


	6. Rigateeny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, show of hands, who thinks our favorite depressed skeleton can be a good parent? Hmm, that's too many hands. Let's make it harder.

Sans was having a nightmare. He was on his back, fighting something he couldn't see. He had to move, had to get away from something. But he felt groggy, his bones were heavy and he couldn't remember what he was running from. 

From Papyrus. Papyrus had returned.

Like a fever dream, a memory surfaced, and he remembered lying on a table, staring into Papyrus's face. It had been cracked, damaged, and poorly wrapped. But his eyes were the same. Eyes that said he was glad to have Sans back. That said he was never going to let Sans go again.

It hadn't been a dream. Papyrus had returned.

Mouth open in a scream, Sans fought his way back to wakefulness. It didn't come easy, the gears of his mind sluggish and continually tripping over the fear of being back with Papyrus. His eyes opened, but he couldn't get his eyelights to form. He was blind! Where was he? Was he back in the room? 

He tried to sit up, but he couldn't move. He was strapped down, struggling against something wrapped around his chest. He twisted, but it remained snug across him. 

Oh, oh god no, Papyrus wasn't content with just chaining him to the wall anymore, was he? Sans was going to be strapped to the bed, like he'd been strapped to the chair, f o r e v e r.

His hands flailed as he thrashed. He pressed one against his stomach-

Only to have it pass straight to his spine.

His ecto was unsummoned. 

His baby was gone. 

Oh, god, did Papyrus have his baby?! No, it couldn't be!

That terror was finally enough to cut through his addled haze and gasping, he summoned his eyelights.

It took Sans's panicked mind a few moments to realize he could move somewhat, only his upper chest was restrained, and it was only snug, not tight. A few more and he realized that he wasn't in the room either. Blinking, his vision began to clear as he slowly became reacquainted with reality. He was still in the Lab, in the room he'd been given. What? What had happened?

Sans remembered Alphys coming into his room with the tray, and shoving it to the ground. With sharp anger he remembered the rag. She'd fucking drugged him! And strapped him to a bed!?

Looking down at his chest he could see the strap, a simple thick belt with a buckle holding it together. It didn't seem locked in any way, and he could reach it easily. A few seconds later he was unbound, and pushing himself up to sit.

When he was finally upright, there were a few things he noticed right away, but the most pressing was the bassinet next to his bed. He rubbed at his arm, feeling the raised letters under his thumb as he considered it.

The basket was soft and white, completely innocuous and completely at odds with the fear rising up through Sans like a tide. With shaking arms, he shifted himself closer, noticing but not acknowledging the lack of pain in his leg. 

Looking inside, he saw a skeleton, half covered by a small blanket. An impossibly small, fragile infant. Their skull was a little long, but their eye sockets were large like his. It was his child. That was something he knew intellectually, and he watched them sleep, waiting for the warm rush of feeling he's supposed to get from actually looking at his baby.

It didn't come.

He felt no deep connection. To him, they looked like any other infant. In a room full of babies, he'd only recognize them for being a skeleton. Sans's Soul gave a painful throb. Was this just something else he'd screwed up? Another sign that he was broken beyond repair?

As if feeling his gaze on them, the child opened their eye sockets. Bright yellow eye lights flickered into existence, already staring into his. He sucked in a startled breath and in return they gave a small, questioning coo of sound, just a few letters. 

"Woau?"

Sans saw the font, saw the strange, broken characters, and his Soul gave a harsh stutter of distress. He didn't know the font, but it wasn't properly formed. He'd made a broken child.

Maybe, he rationalized, maybe it was because they were so young? Maybe they just needed to finish growing into their font? That made sense, right? He'd never actually seen a day old infant before, after all. Stars, he hoped it only been a day. 

Slowly, gently, he reached out a hand to stroke the child's face. Their eyelights, big and vividly yellow, watched him curiously. He paused, his fingers a breath away as he felt the most ridiculous sensation of being judged. 

With a sharp jerk he pulled his hand back. They already knew, didn't they? He hadn't even started as a parent yet and they already knew he'd fail them.

Np, no, that didn't make any sense. They were a baby. They couldn't know anything, they were literally brand new to the world. There was a chance, he could do it. He hadn't failed them yet.

Once more he reached out, trying to keep his hand from shaking. As before, they only watched. Waiting.

As his phalanges touched their face, they kicked out with both feet, a happy gesture accompanied by a happy crinkling of their eye sockets. He smiled at that and continued to gently stroke the side of their skull while he replaced the blanket. They were happy.

Maybe if he could keep them alive and happy that could be enough. He'd put them in stripes. He'd teach them to be kind. He do his best-

Like he'd done with Papyrus?

The thought was like being doused in cold water. Completely unaware of his inner turmoil, the child closed their eyes, apparently worn out by the single moment of activity.

That brought the smile back to his face. Heh. Sans could relate.

Finally, he couldn't put it off any longer. He leaned back on his bed, grabbing the blanket that covered him. He felt an inane urge to try wriggling his toes, but he'd lost those to that fish a long time ago. Taking as deep a breath as he could, he yanked the blanket away and looked at his leg.

There was no leg to look at. 

Wide bandages wrapped his pelvis from his illiac crests to his ischium, completely hiding his acetabulum and what he knew must be a gaping empty joint.

On the bright side, if she did her job right, at least there wouldn't be anything left to pick at.

Gingerly, he touched at the bandages. It didn't hurt. He pressed a little harder, testing. Well there was some soreness the closer he got to the joint, it still didn't hurt. For the first time in the better part of a year, he didn't hurt.

Sans turned his head to look when the door opened and Alphys shuffled in, her head down and a cup of something steaming in her hand. The something turned out to be coffee, as she dropped the cup on the tile floor with a crack when she realized Sans was awake and staring at her. 

"S-Sans?! You're- Oh, stars, you haven't- no, of course not, you couldn't have-"

He held a glare on her until she stopped, looking very much like she just wanted to run from the room. 

Looking around, Sans found his notebook but there was no pen to be seen. Alphys offered one up, hesitantly stepping around the spilled coffee and he snatched it from her forcefully enough that she jumped back. He ignored her, flipping to a blank page.

[where is he?]

There was no need to be specific. "In his cell, at the capital," she said, trembling slightly at the force of his anger. 

He had so much more to say about that, but instead he asked, [how long was i out?]

She threw a quick glance at the clock before answering, "J-just under ten hours. "

[you chloroformed me?]

"H-halothaned, actually. With propofol to make it effective." She wrung her claws, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. "You got to use the two together, you see, since halothane is only a neurodepressant, it's really not enough to-"

Slamming his hand on the table, he cut her off.

The sharp noise caught the child's attention, and they began to cry softly, making weak little whimpers. Sans looked over in surprise, caught off guard again by the child's strange font.

"W-wait!" Alphys shouted, forcefully enough that he actually looked at her. Alphys tapped her claws against her other hand nervously and when he narrowed his eyes at her she quickly spat out, "Y-you can't touch her yet! The baby causes damage when you touch her!"

That may be the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, and it had stiff competition. He shot her a harsh glare that had her stepping a few paces back, before turning his attention back to the child. What should he do? How do you pick up a baby? Would he hurt them if he tried?

Sans must have looked a moment too long, because Alphys spoke up, taking a hesitant step forward. "L-let me take her instead?" 

Sans scowled at her, narrowing his sockets in silent threat. She retreated back again, and he turned to reach into the basket himself. 

"No, wait!" Alphys cried in horror, running to stop him.

Gingerly, he scooped his fingers under the infant, one hand under their body, the other under their head. As soon as he touched them, they instantly stopped fussing. Alphys froze, her eyes wide with shock as her claws hovered right in front of him.

"You're not taking damage?" She asked, pulling her claws away. As if the answer wasn't stupidly obvious.

Rather than trying to figure out what she was freaking out about, Sans lifted the impossibly little infant out of the basket. His hands were small, but they were smaller. If he wanted, he could probably even hold them one handed. 

Feeling like they might fall to pieces at any second, he pulled them to his chest. Stars, they were small. Were they supposed to be this tiny? It seemed like they could break from simply holding them.

A single tiny hand reflexively gripped one of his ribs as they stared up with those giant yellow eyes. It was an alarmingly intense gaze for someone so small, so young.

He felt a small pull on his Soul, the child gently drawing magic off him. Sans could feel their Soul, so new, so frail, as their magic fed from his own.

The little eyes sagged shut. Sated or tired, he couldn't tell. It was… nice, he decided.

"What are you going to name her?" Alphys's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Well, it had been nice. Shifting to cradle the babybones in his right arm, he grabbed his book with his left. His handwriting was sloppy like this, but legible.

[they'll get a name when i find their font. why do you keep saying her?]

Alphys read the note and immediately turned pink. "W-well, since I couldn't use a check, earlier you had m-mentioned hips…" She looked away, stammering. "So I-I looked it up and… well, an oval shaped pelvic inlet, in a human, is supposed to mean-"

He slapped his hand on the book again to make her stop. The baby flinched, but made no other move as Sans angrily wrote, [we're monsters, not defleshed humans!]

She grimaced. "I-I know, especially since you, too… well…"

Seething, Sans pressed the pen forcefully into the paper as he wrote, [consider this an official warning, since apparently you need one in writing: Stay the fuck away from my pelvis.]

Alphys flinched when she read it, and he took it back to add, [and for the record, don't fucking drug me!]

"I had to!" She cried out suddenly. "I couldn't just watch you die, Sans! What would you have done?"

He hissed a breath through his teeth. [just get away from me] he wrote.

"Sans, I'm sorry!"

He threw the notebook at her, and she cried out. Unnecessarily, Sans thought, as he hadn't even put that much force into the throw. He was too tired for this. Ignoring her, Sans rolled onto his side, giving her his back and cradling the baby against himself. They murmered, but otherwise stayed quiet. 

"Sans?" Alphys called, softly this time. "Please?"

Squinting his eyes shut, he willed her to just go away. Why wouldn't she just go away? He could feel tears pooling in his eyes, spreading to stain the pillow against his face. Stupid. Tears were stupid. He shouldn't be crying.

There was a sound as she gathered the broken pieces of mug, and he didn't look as she slowly shuffled from the room. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly with a shudder. He didn't need her. He didn't need anyone. 

Tiny phalanges flexed on his ribs and he opened his eyes to look at his baby. They looked back up with those piercing yellow lights, watching, waiting for him to make a decision. He didn't need anyone, but this one needed him. He couldn't leave them to Alphys. 

He pressed his teeth against the top of their skull. 

"Wah? Haa?" They asked, so eager to talk. 

"Ssss," he hissed gently, the most sound he could make, as he pressed a shushing finger to their teeth. He doesn't want to see their font right now. He knows he messed up. 

~~~

Being a parent was draining. Literally, in Sans's case. The child was basically a gravity well for magic, siphoning it straight from Sans's Soul. They were early, and needed to feed from him until they at least reached full term, about ten weeks more. If only they didn't need so much!

Sans had thought he'd been tired before. He hadn't known what tired meant.

In a twisted sort of way, Sans supposed he was lucky. He didn't have to do a damn thing. Alphys was at his beck and call, her guilt a heavy enough chain that she would do nearly anything for him. Except the things he actually wanted, like taking the collar off or giving him back his leg. 

Sure, the leg thing was pretty unreasonable at this time, but he'd been hoping that maybe she'd be able to get the collar off now. Really, he shouldn't have hoped. More excuses, more worries about his stats, and now the baby drain on top of it. She refused to risk it.

So he was back to the waiting game. 

"Mmmmm!" The baby began to call out pitifully from the basket, waking him from the light sleep he'd finally fallen into. Insomnia, a familiar enemy, had come clawing back to his life since the baby had arrived. Last night they'd kicked his door in and had a vigil, and, judging by the clock face, had only left two hours ago. 

In the near week since Sans had given birth, he'd guess he'd gotten maybe twenty hours of sleep. Rounded up. It wasn't enough.

And now they were awake again, which meant only one thing. They wanted to be held.

Sans groaned. He didn't want to hold them. He wanted to sleep.

"Mmm! Hwaaa!" The noise increased from beside him. He rolled away from them, wrapping the pillow around his skull. Just go back to sleep! He silently pleaded, but the cries only increased. 

"Waaaaa!"

Only a few days in and, Stars, he was getting more than a little tired of holding them all the time! There was nothing wrong, they had no reason to be crying! Wasn't it bad enough that he'd had to give up his leg, and now the baby wanted his arms too? No! He refused! One morning, just one damn morning he was going to sleep in without the baby in his arms! How could that be too much to ask for?!

They were shrieking with vigor now, with loud, surprisingly full throated screams. He pressed his arms tighter around his skull, trying to will himself back to sleep, a mantra of shut up, shut up, shut up! repeating on loop in his head.

"Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!"

He wanted to scream himself. They didn't even form 'a's correctly! The first letter of the alphabet! Their font hadn't changed at all since they'd been born, and, Stars, he'd been looking! Was it his fault? Because he hadn't eaten right while pregnant? Because of his leg? Because they were early?

Because he wasn't a good enough parent that wanted to hold his child when they cried?

"Sans!" Alphys called out. "What's going on?"

He didn't look up, choosing instead to bury his face deeper into the pillow. He hadn't even heard her come in. Stars, he just wanted some quiet! As if to spite his distress the baby began to cry even louder.

"They seem upset," Alphys said, showing off a remarkable ability to state the obvious. "Can… can I try holding them?"

Frantically Sans nodded into his pillow, his body trembling with the force he gripped it with. Anything, anything to make them stop!

A moment later the baby's sobs calmed to desperate hiccups, and Sans finally relaxed his death grip on his pillow. Realizing he was hyperventilating, he took a moment to just focus on breathing, hating the way his ribs shuddered. From behind him, Alphys made a short gasp of pain. Then the baby began to whine plaintively, and Sans pulled his head free to look.

Alphys had the baby in her claws, being careful to only hold the blanket and not touch them directly. Her hold was gentle, rocking them slightly. From inside the blanket mass, a tiny hand had been extended, but Alphys held them away just far enough that they couldn't reach her. They continued to whimper sadly. They wanted to be touched.

As he watched Alphys continue to pull away from the tragically waving hand, Sans's Soul finally couldn't take it anymore. He sat up, and the baby saw him. Their little eyes were full of tears, and with a truly pitiful sound they shifted to reaching for him instead. Resigned, he reached his arms out.

"Sorry, Sans," she said, handing them over. "I'm just not the one they need."

Nodding, he accepted the baby. He smoothed a thumb across their temple, and they calmed right down at his touch. What good was sleep, anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The baby's font! I haven't seen anyone use this one yet :)
> 
> https://bit.ly/314GeKO


	7. Bavette(r Late Than Never)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby gets a name! Sans doesn't find closure, but this arc of the story does.
> 
> (Ty to MsBigBoots for reminding me I needed to fix and post this!!)

Today was boring, and Sans was thoroughly enjoying the quiet. The baby had been sleeping for most of the day, finally allowing Sans to set them in the basket. When they were awake they wanted to be held. Constantly. It left only two choices, hold them or watch them cry, so being able to finally put the baby down felt like a blessing. They'd been sleeping for nearly an hour, and it was the most peaceful hour he could remember.

There was a knock on the door and, feeling charitable, Sans looked up as Alphys entered the room.

"I found it!" She said triumphantly, holding out the thick text he'd requested days ago. 'A Guide to Skeleton Fonts: Basic Latin Character Sets.'

Alphys was practically beaming in joy at her find, buzzing with enough energy to make a Temmie jealous. "Can you believe it? It was in one of the old Core offices! Just sitting on the shelf, but I can't possibly imagine who would have used that office and wanted to keep a book about skeletons handy. Odd, don't you think?"

Sans nodded, more bare acknowledgement than agreement, and took the heavy tome.

Once again, he was stuck asking for her help with books. Using crutches, holding the baby and carrying a book at once was too much juggling for him to manage. He'd tried. But the logistics of how to transport it was a moot point when he didn't know where it was in the first place. 

At least in this instance, Sans couldn't say her help wasn't useful. He'd known the book existed, and could remember seeing it somewhere in the Labs on more than one occasion, but the details were hazy. For the life of him, he couldn't remember where or when that had been. 

Worse, he knew, in no uncertain terms, that wandering the length and breadth of the Labs looking for it was beyond his ability. Oh, how knowing that stung. Sans had always been weaker than others, but at least before he'd had his magic to compensate. Now he was all but helpless. 

While he resented needing her help, Sans did have to admit having Alphys around made things easier. He didn't even need to leave his room anymore (but he still could, if he wanted, and that made all the difference).

Opening the book at random, he began to flip back and forth, in no real hurry to find the name. There was plenty of time to look, and if he'd been right and their font still needed to grow it hardly mattered what he looked up. Really, he just hoped to find something close, a font he could point to and say, "yes, that's what it will be someday."

Well, not say, per se.

His own name was in there, of course, and as he passed the page with "Comic Sans" he gave a half smile as his attention momentarily snagged on the tags- 'round' and 'easy to read'. Idly, he wondered who came up with these ideas.

"So, I finally figured out the steam issue from last week," Alphys began, rearing to go on another tirade about reoccuring mechanical issues in the Core. "Remember how I said the ice chute had been getting jammed?"

He nodded as if he did, but he really couldn't say if she'd told him or not. As she began to ramble on about some overlooked maintenance technique he decided it didn't sound important, so he tuned her out, giving his full attention to the book.

As a reference book it was pretty sizable and Sans took his time, turning the pages and curiously admiring the vast array of fonts. There were some nice names, some nice designs. Classics, like Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana. More creative ones, like Broadway, Curlz, Graffiti. Frosting For Breakfast gave him a good chuckle.

The page fell open to Papyrus font, and Sans slammed the book shut, suddenly very done with his chosen method of searching.

From beside him, Alphys jumped. The baby, thankfully, stayed sleeping. Random looking wasn't going to work. Changing tactics, he opened the book again, flipping to the index. He could try key words instead. Starting, if it was there, with broken. Not the nicest tag, he thought, his eyelights drifting momentarily to the basket, but it seemed fitting.

To his surprise, there were dozens of fonts tagged as broken. And more than a few had such awful names that he cringed internally reading them, imagining the skeletons that owned them.

Bleak Segments. Breakable. Broken Toys. Corrupter. Destroy X. 

One by one he looked them up, hoping that he wouldn't find that his child was named something horrible like Crash Test Dummy. There was a lot of flipping around as he jumped from index to entries and back again while he went down the list, and he couldn't help feeling slightly relieved everytime he got to cross off a painful sounding name from the possibility list. But by the time he reached the middle of the alphabet he was starting to get discouraged, not even the normal sounding ones, like Lombok or Manko, were even close. Was 'wiggly' common enough to be a keyword?

Then he found it.

Mlurmlry.

It matched exactly. The strange, twisted characters were a dead ringer for the letters his baby spoke with. Their font wasn't unfinished after all, it was just broken. His child's name was Mlurmlry.

Leaning over, Sans looked into the basket. Mlurmlry was sleeping soundly, their big sockets relaxed with a little fist pressed against their teeth. He liked when they slept, calm and peaceful.

"Did you find it?" Alphys asked, and Sans nodded, not bothering to look over. "That's amazing! I didn't really think that 'seeing fonts' was a real thing! Do I have a font?"

Laying the book in his lap, Sans grabbed his notebook, writing, [yeah. most monsters, like you, speak in a form of 8 Bit Operator.]

"Facinating! And, um, the baby?"

He held up the font book again for her to see, pointing at the entry for 'Mlurmlry'. She winced when she saw it, disgust flashing across her face before she tried to hide it with a weak smile. It may be a little hypocritical for him to be resentful about that, especially considering his own first reaction to the font, but he glared at her anyway.

"It's, um, nice?" Alphys said, and it didn't take a judge to catch that lie. "Murml, uh, Mlurmy?" She tried, 

Her face fell when his glare only increased. It wasn't even that hard. Irritated, Sans spelled it out in capitals. 

[MLURMLRY. 8 letters, 3 syllables.]

"Mlurmlry! Oh, ok, sorry. Mlurmlry." She tried for another smile. "It sort of feels like I'm trying to imitate a talking cat when I say it."

Sans supposed she meant to be funny with that. He didn't laugh.

Fidgeting, Alphys scratched at the back of one hand with the other. "Now that they have a name," she asked, "are you going to check them?"

That was a good idea, actually. It wasn't like he could say he wasn't curious. He leaned back over the basket, and Alphys stepped closer to do the same.

MLURMLRY LV1  
HP 1  
ATK 1  
DEF 1  
Sans's daughter.  
Don't touch.

His daughter. Sans felt a ridiculous flare of anger that Alphys had been right all along. He shoved it aside, it didn't matter.

He had a daughter.

"D-don't touch?" Alphys asked, curiosity in her question. "Do you think that refers to the fact that anyone that touches her takes damage?" She winced, suddenly. "O-oh, is it alright now that I say 'her'? Since it says daughter, after all?"

Reminding himself that being angry wouldn't help, he grabbed his notebook. Personally, he thought the check meant 'don't touch her or Sans will rip your throat out', or that maybe the baby just didn't like her, but hey, he was open to other possibilities.

[she and her are fine for now] he wrote. If that's what her check says, that's what he'll go with until she can speak for herself.

Alphys's face broke out into a smile, and Sans silently dared her to say something about it. She opened her mouth to speak, but then, thinking better of it, closed it without saying anything.

Heh, maybe having children gave him telepathy. Maybe if he thought at her hard enough she'd leave him alone again.

An awkward minute later, Alphys excused herself, mumbling something about tests that needed attention. Like magic, she left. Heh, magic.

He missed his magic. He missed a lot of things.

~~~

The next day, Alphys brought news with his breakfast. Or so he suspected. As per usual, she couldn't simply say it, instead hanging around with a nervous air until the whole room reeked with anxiety. With Mlurmlry held in one arm (like she almost always was), Sans didn't bother to even look over as he ate his oatmeal, waiting for her to find her words. But when she did, it completely blindsided him.

"I got a message from the capital. Undyne told Papyrus Mlurmlry's name."

Sans's head snapped towards her. His spoon clattered noisily as it fell into his bowl, but he barely noticed. Why? Why would she do that?

It was so obvious a question he didn't need to write it down. "Well, we sort of, kind of, figured he deserved to know?"

Sans disagreed. Sans disagreed harshly. There were a lot of things Papyrus deserved. Mlurmlry's name was definitely not one of them.

Instead of leaving it at that, she scratched distractedly at one of her head spikes, her eyes locked on the floor. The burns were well healed by now, but a distracted part of Sans imagined new scales must itch like hell. 

"And she passed along a message," Alphys continued a bit more quietly. "Papyrus wants to see you. To apologize." Almost too quiet to hear she added, "I think you should go."

For a long few seconds he couldn't do anything but stare at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Papyrus wanted to APOLOGIZE? And Alphys apparently thought that was a GOOD IDEA? 

As the shock fell away, Sans took a slightly shaky breath before picking up his spoon again to resume eating. It was that or scream at her until his nonexistent lungs gave out, suppression collar be damned. From where she lay against his chest, Mlurmlry watched his face, her big yellow eyes staring through him. It didn't matter. He kept eating, fighting the urge to scream anyway.

Tragically misreading his signals, Alphys kept talking. "Undyne says he's changed. He… understands, I guess? I- I don't know." 

That would be a change alright. It was too little, too late.

When he still didn't respond, she perked up, possibly taking his silence for acquiescence as she declared, "he's definitely doing better!"

She just wasn't going to get the point, was she? Livid, Sans put his breakfast on the table and grabbed his pen. He wasn't hungry anyhow.

[fucking bully for him,] he wrote, gently using Mlurmlry as a notepad support. She grabbed the paper, holding it steady as he scribbled his response. [and in case you need it spelled out: no. hell no. 1000x NO.]

He carefully pried the notebook from Mlurmlry's grip, passing it to Alphys, who deflated a little at his expression.

"O-oh, okay," she replied reading the note. She dropped her head, looking away before handing the paper back. "But… there is one more thing," she added hesitantly, still not looking at him. "His max hp… it's dropping."

Good, Sans wanted to tell her. Maybe he'll get to see what it's like being the weaker monster for a change. Sans had always thought his brother's high stats were cool, something to point out and be proud of. It felt like something from another life.

It hurt, remembering how he used to be. The very worst thing about all of this was… there was something in him that wanted to go. From the very deepest part of him, he wanted his brother back. He wanted to hear Papyrus say he was sorry, that he'd been wrong and that everything would go back to the way it was. He missed him.

Abandoning his notebook with his breakfast, he instead turned his full attention to Mlurmlry. She only had eyes for him, quietly staring. He could never go back. Mlurmlry had to be protected.

At his complete non-response, Alphys finally turned towards the door.

If Sans had hoped that'd be the end of it, once again he was disappointed. From the corner of his eye he watched her brace herself before she turned back, asking, "Is there anything you'd like me to pass along? Like a letter? I know you used to write some to him."

Internally he seethed anew, his teeth clenching in reflexive anger. She'd read his letters. How very fucking dare she. He wasn't exactly surprised by the revelation, but he would have thought it'd make his position on this matter clear.

Apparently not.

Deliberately putting his smile back on, he grabbed for his notebook again and wrote a new note.

[good idea. i've got a letter for him. three actually.]

The look of hope on her face when she read it irritated the hell out of him. Was she actually that naive? Sure, sarcasm was hard to translate into writing, but, seriously?

He motioned for the notebook back, and she gave it back, brightly asking, "Y-you do? Really?"

Keeping his smile firmly locked in place, he placed the paper on the bed to write this time. He had to shut the door on this idea.

[yeah. D. I. E. make sure you give him all of them, k?]

Instead of handing it to her, he dropped it on the floor and turned to face the wall, wrapping his arms gently around Mlurmlry. But not before he saw her face fall from hope to dissapointment.

There was a soft scuff as Alphys picked the book up and set it back on his table. Sans didn't look back when he heard her leave the room. 

This wasn't some anime fairy tale where grand gestures and bright colors will make everything better. Not all stories have happy endings, and it was time she grew up and realized it.

Mlurmlry continued to watch him, extremely judgy for her age. She looked like she had something to say.

"Sss, sss," Sans breathed before she could, tapping a finger gently against her teeth. "Sss…"

She grabbed for his arm, her little hands closing over his scarred ulna near his carples. The word GLAD seemed to stare as harshly as she did.

No, he wasn't. He really wasn't. He was scared. There was still always the chance Papyrus could come back. It had already happened once, with Alphys's permission. And now she wanted Sans to go to HIM? 

Stars, he wanted to. Something in him said that he wasn't supposed to be alone like this. He wanted his brother. How could he want that?

He couldn't trust himself.

There was no escaping, was there? 

Maybe if Papyrus did die, Sans could feel safe again.

~~~

A few days later, Alphys brought more news from the Capital. Papyrus had Fallen Down. He didn't even bother to look at Alphys when she told him, and she left soon after without another word. 

Fallen Down. It made sense, Sans supposed, repeating the words in his mind. A logical conclusion to the dropping hp. It wasn't his fault. Certainly it wasn't because the universe had heard his silent wish. Not his fault.

He lay on his front, his arm dangling over the edge to fall into Mlurmlry's basket. Trial and error had finally shown an alternative to holding her all the time- as long as she was being touched she was fine. It was a loophole that Sans was more than happy to exploit.

As he gently stroked the side of Mlurmlry's face, he tried to comvince himself there was nothing he could do. Sans could have helped him earlier, probably. Gone to see him, talk to him. Demanded answers, apologies.

Every time he looked into Mlurmlry's long face, he saw Papyrus in her. She had his smile. It amazed him how much he could simultaneously crave and hate that expression at the same time.

He liked when she smiled. Who didn't enjoy the sweet joy of an innocent child? But even more than he liked it, it scared him.

Something had gone wrong with Papyrus. Something he couldn't predict or even see until it was far too late. He'd never suspected the darkness existed until it tried to consume him.

She had Papyrus's smile. She was wearing it now. What else had she inherited from him? What if it happened again? What if she turned on him, too?

His breath caught as he realized where his thoughts had run. This was his _daughter_ , how could he even _think_ something like that? Shouldn't she be given every possible benefit of a doubt? Wouldn't that be what a _good_ parent would do?

Sans sat up, pulling Mlurmlry from the basket to hold her to his chest. Her voice warbled with a small protest against his ribs, and he knew he was holding her a little too tightly, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. His hands balled into the soft fabric she wore as he clutched her to him. He couldn't let her go. 

He was going to mess this up again. He'd tried his best with Papyrus and it hadn't been good enough. He hadn't been good enough.

Sans did nothing. It was too late anyway.

~~~

The next morning, Undyne personally came to tell him. 

Papyrus was gone.

Sans received the news with a blank face. He figured he was supposed to feel gla- _happy_ that this was over. Wasn't he? There was no more choice to make. It was done.

It didn't make him happy. It didn't make him feel safe. The world felt just as terrible as it had a few hours ago. Undyne had more to say, but the words washed past him, unheard, unheeded.

When the captain finally left, Alphys trailing away behind her, Sans pressed his face into his hands. He pressed his palms into his sockets until they hurt, but he knew it couldn't make his problems go away.

Why wasn't this better? What was he supposed to do now? Everything still hurt, his arm was still scarred, his leg was still missing, he still had the fucking collar and the future was still a perilous chasm of yawning darkness! He was free, Papyrus was gone, why did he still feel like this?!

It was stupid, it was all just so stupid! Of course things weren't going to go back to normal. Everything in his whole stupid world was broken. The people, his child, him! If only he could just leave-

His eyelights shot to the door as Sans remembered his hallucination of a small, grey child. Almost as if he was hearing it again, he remembered the words they had spoken.

_"All you have to do is open a door, any door, and think about the omega timeline, and that's where that door will go."_

It was supposed to be a place where he could truly get better, right? A place with hope. Somewhere he could enter and leave freely. Where broken toys went to be fixed.

But his door wasn't a magic portal. It was a regular door, with nothing but hallway on the other side. Using his arms he turned his body until he could swing his leg over the side. He didn't know why, this was a stupid idea, and trying would just wear him out. His hands shook as he grabbed for his crutches. 

Of course it wouldn't work. Sliding off the bed he took a few lurching steps to the closed door. It was a fairy tale. He thought of a place called the Omega Timeline as he slowly got closer. 

He shouldn't get his hopes up. 

Reaching out, Sans opened the door.

White light streamed into his tiny room. It most definitely wasn't the lab. Beyond the door looked like a town, with blue sky and trees. But the blue faded at the edges (and so did the town for that matter) into a white nothingness. It radiated a sense of peace. He'd found the Omega Timeline. He could really go there. But there was one more, heh, little thing to worry about.

Sans looked back at the bassinet. He knew he wasn't good enough, and he still didn't think he felt like he was supposed to about them, but they were an innocent child. They deserved to be protected, and this world had been doing a shit job in that front. 

Carefully he hobbled back to the bed, keeping one eye on the open doorway, more than a little worried it would vanish if he didn't. He only turned away for a moment, pulling on his jacket and a slipper, before scooping Mlumlry into his arms, then into his jacket, snuggly bundled in their blanket. As an afterthought he grabbed the robe as well, pulling it on and using the belt to add support for Mlurmlry. He was ready.

He let out a relieved sigh when he turned back to see the door was still open, the strange town on the other side. The trembling began again as he approached it. Was he really doing this? He could really just… leave?

Sans wanted to get better. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself, swung his crutches and stepped inside. The door gently swung shut behind him.

~~~

That evening, when Alphys went into his room to bring him dinner there was no one to find. His crutches and one slipper were gone, and so was Mlurmlry. There was no dust that she could find. It looked as if he'd simply walked away.

He wasn't in the library. Or the lobby. Or anywhere else in the Labs. She checked the cameras, but there was no sign he'd left his room.

It was as if they'd simply vanished.

She remembered what he'd told her about his hallucination. She remembered what the River Person had said.

She hoped he was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends Tagliatelle, and this Sans's first arc. Believe it or not, he will get a happy ending! ...ok, well, mostly. Stay tuned for The Antipasta, where we'll continue to follow Sans through the Omega Timeline! Due in... I dunno. It's still being tweaked. 
> 
> And I'm out of pasta puns now. If you have one, let me know!


	8. Epilogue, The Antipasta intro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new, familiar face enters the Omega Timeline.
> 
> AKA, See? There's hope on the horizon! (But the storms are the fun part)

A Classic Papyrus, in a quiet corner of the Omega Timeline, looked up from his planter box when he heard the sound of something tearing. About a dozen feet away the door to the community tool shed had opened.

From this angle he couldn't properly look inside, but it definitely wasn't leading to the warm wooden interior of the shed. The little that he could see through the portal looked dreary, grey and dark. Distractedly he fidgeted with the button on his right cuff as he watched, curious to see who would come through.

No one came out.

Strange. Portals opened and closed through random doors throughout the Omega Timeline at least a few times a day, but it was always quick, with the summoner ready to step inside and close the door. In the week he'd been here, he'd never seen one just simply open. 

Setting down his tools, the Papyrus, so far known (rather unkindly) in the OT as Melted Wax Papyrus, stood up. His right leg protested the movement, his melted joints straining as he pushed himself upright, only to fade again as he brushed the dirt from his pant legs. It wasn't his first choice of nickname, but he couldn't say it didn't fit. Though eventually he would need to come up with his own.

It was a short trip to the door and, peeking around the edge, Papyrus saw that it opened up into a dark little room. Someone was inside, leaning over a bed with his back to the door.

It was a new Sans. 

Papyrus pulled back, embarrassed to be intruding, and waited next to the door, being sure to keep his right arm tucked behind his back. A strange, off rhythm clanking came from the doorway, growing louder as new Sans approached the portal. As soon as he stepped through, the cause became strikingly apparent.

Sympathy rushed through Papyrus's Soul. The new Sans needed crutches to walk. That was a surprise, but it was an outright shock to see that it was because the poor Sans had only one foot showing from under his long bathrobe.

New Sans's middle was puffy, like he was wearing multiple layers of clothes and carrying something inside his robe. He was staring straight ahead, taking in the Omega Timeline as his door shut behind him. He hadn't noticed Papyrus yet.

"Excuse me," Papyrus said, and the other whirled around to face him. 

New Sans had either moved too quickly, or maybe he wasn't very good with his crutches because he tripped, dropping heavily to the ground. His arms broke his fall, and Papyrus hurried to help him up- only to freeze in place, the look on his brother's face stopping him cold.

Since he'd entered the Omega Timeline, Papyrus had received no end of strange looks. Pity, mostly. Sometimes horror. But not anger, and certainly never rage. The look his brother, his original brother, gave him. 

Alarm and worry (and no small amount of fear) washed through Papyrus as his brother glared viciously up at him. He saw only hatred and rage in that look, and Papyrus knew he only had moments before Sans struck out at him again.

Even as he backed away to give Sans space, Papyrus internally let out a sigh of relief. Now they could both be safe.

His training took over as a distant memory of his father's voice echoed through his mind. _"It is up to you to keep him calm during a psychotic break. De-escalate."_ Gaster must have told him it a thousand times.

"It's alright, Sans. You're safe," Papyrus said, putting his hands up to hide the ruined side of his face and repeating the words he'd said so many times. He knelt, lowering himself to his knees so that he didn't tower over Sans. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

His brother didn't answer, but his very essence seethed with the command, "Get away from me."

This, too, was normal. More normal than anything he'd seen in the last week. _"If he is asking for things or making demands, comply with those that are safe and reasonable."_ Gaster's advice came again. Papyrus did, backing further away, still on his knees.

"I know this is scary," Papyrus said softly. He needed to determine how severe the delusions were this time. "What do you see?"

Sans's expression shifted towards confusion, his eyelights darting around the environment and back to Papyrus. He remained where he was, his face shifting between confused and wary, waiting for Papyrus to fill in the blank. That wasn't ideal, but if Sans didn't trust his senses it was a good sign that he was willing to let Papyrus help instead of attacking first.

"We're outside," he said calmly, making sure his inflection was as gentle as possible. "This is the Omega Timeline. It's safe here."

Sans's eyes widened slightly, and he wrapped his arms protectively around his middle. Then Papyrus saw a new expression on Sans's face. It was faint, and gone quickly, but it had existed nonetheless. 

Hope.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Taking Control? Losing Control?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26343481) by [msbigboots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msbigboots/pseuds/msbigboots)




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